Time Slip
by Winged Element
Summary: The adventures of Dante and Nero had they met in a different time in a different way, established DxN, yaoi, don't like don't read, very much M
1. Mine

A/N: Hey guys, so this is literally just a continuation of Wrinkle in Time, but you don't really need to know what happened in the last one (reeeeaaaally short synopsis: Dante met Nero after DMC3 and then they went through DMC1 together) other than there's an established relationship between Dante and Nero in this fic. Also this was going to be up last week but I thought I'd give you guys a longer chapter this time instead of two short ones, shutting up and getting on with it.

Disclaimer: Hairy baby! *pets cat*

Mine

Nero stretched leisurely, it had been a slow night last night, and the hunters had retired early, well they had gone to the bedroom early, that didn't necessarily mean that they had gone to sleep… the partial devil looked over at his partner, who was sprawled on his back breathing loudly through his open mouth. Nero smiled, thinking back on the past couple years. Frankly he couldn't be happier, he had a man he loved (not that he would've thought _that_ would've happened a few years ago) and a job that made him feel like he was truly at home in his own skin. Dante let out a small snort and shuffled slightly and Nero had to hide his laughter in the back of his throat. He remembered what it was like coming back from the mission that had changed so much. That fateful few days on Mallet Island had brought them a new business partner, had brought himself and Dante even closer together and convinced Lady all the more that the two of them were walking natural disasters. It wasn't like they had _meant_ the blow up half the island! He remembered only vaguely the lecture that she had given them the next morning, what he remembered _much, much_ better was what had come just previous of that…

-Time Slip-

Dante awoke with a groan, he barely remembered getting into bed after the mission… and what a mission it had been, the feel of a cushy bed underneath him was just shy of heaven, and the feel of another body snuggled into his own rocked it up another couple steps. He looked down at Nero's sleeping face on his bare chest, the partial devil was still wearing all his clothes as the red hunter hadn't the energy to pull them off last night. He'd barely gotten his friend into bed as it was… Well there was no time like the present to fix that problem… he slipped the other hunter onto his back and slithered down his body, unbuckling his pants like a horny ghost and slid them off in one fell swoop. Or that's what he had planned to do until they got caught on the partial devil's boots that he was in fact still wearing at the time and Nero slipped down the bed a good several inches and grunted, face scrunching up and he lifted mismatched hands to rub at his eyes.

"Dante…?" he mumbled, wondering why his legs were so cold all of a sudden. He looked down to see Dante grumbling and picking at the buckles keeping his boots on his feet. The younger hunter was so confused as to why he was still wearing boots in the first place, how on earth had he fallen asleep with them on…? He thought back to the previous days and the absolutely exhausting mission that they had just accomplished, that'd be a pretty good reason to fall asleep with them on… he sat up and deftly opened the buckles and shucked them off himself. Dante just looked at him sheepishly.

"I was _trying_ to wake you up in a really pleasant way… I may have failed slightly on my mission." Nero just grinned and pulled his many shirts over his head all at once, tossing them to the floor with a flop and grabbed the other man's shoulder, pulling them both onto their backs.

"I think it was plenty nice enough, now how about we do something about this little problem that we both seem to have huh?" the partial devil rubbed their hips together, loving the way his lover's eyes rolled back in his head

"That…" Dante started to kiss around his neck "sounds like an excellent idea." He thrust a little harder and the two of them winced at the dry feeling

"Lube." Nero grunted, groping among the pillows

"Yeah, no shit, what'd you do, rub sand on your dick?" Nero smirked, setting the tube next to himself and thrusting roughly against his partner's hips, ignoring the discomfort.

"Yeah, can't you feel it?" he grated a little harder and Dante growled a little, hiking Nero's excitement up with it as he growled back. He squeezed a liberal amount of the slippery concoction over his glowing hand and reached down between their bodies, loving the sensation of the leathery flesh squeezing the two of them together.

"Ah fuck…" Dante sighed "It's been too long since we did this." Nero rolled his eyes but sighed all the same when he saw Dante squeeze a little more lube onto his fingers before reaching behind himself

"It's only been like three days." He said, the half devil nodded, working himself open for his lover and baring his teeth when he hit himself at just the right angle.

"Like I said, too long." He reiterated before settling himself just above Nero's twitching member. It did seem like it had been an awfully long time since they had last done this… he thought, he knew it hadn't, hell they'd done a few quickies in the castle itself but still, it felt like too long since they had done it well and in a real bed. He gasped as Dante sank down on top of him, still tight and squeezing him in a molten, intimate embrace. Nero waited as patiently as he could for Dante to sink down all the way and when he had he thrust just a little, testing the waters. When the half devil just growled happily Nero took that as the okay and thrust as best as he could at their angle.

He quickly had enough of Dante's slow pace though… and flipped the two of them over, thrusting harshly into that heat, claiming it as his own.

"Mine…" he growled and Dante arched his back, clearly he must've done something right… he growled again, feeling his demonic blood surging through his chest like a wildfire. The sight of Dante, chest bent up, fangs bared and dick in hand was too much for Nero. He let it all go with a yell, thrusting unevenly and feeling Dante follow after him just a moment later.

A/N: So yeah… how's that for a first chapter? There's gonna be a lot of this in this fic I think, it's been a while since I've written really good smut…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	2. Is It Though?

A/N: Alright! Another chapter, for me it's immediately following the last one so I'm already in a smutty mood… so you guys get more! Yay!

Disclaimer: hey did you notice? I still own jack shit

Is It Though?

This particular morning though it was Nero turn to surprise his lover, and this time there were no pesky clothes to get in the way. He slipped himself around his friend, grabbing the ever present lube from the nightstand and slicked up his own hole with a practiced ease before doing the same to Dante's member, he bit his lip and slowly lowered himself onto the half devil. Said half devil groaned at the sensation, he was still half dreaming and convinced that he was completely dreaming until the sensation continued along with the feel of teeth nipping at his neck. Warm breath whispered in his ear

"Time to wake up love." He mumbled and thrust up a little bit, loving how the body above him tightened and loosened alternatively

"But I was having such a good dream…" he mumbled, feeling Nero's ass grind into his hips as he said it.

"Open your eyes and you'll find something much better." Nero whispered, rocking his hips in a light rhythm, Dante growled and rolled them over, looking into his lover's blue eyes now.

"Hmm… this might be better, though I'm not too sure yet." He thrust again and Nero growled back, baring a single fang. Dante laughed a little, the partial devil was extremely proud of any progress with his Trigger, it wasn't as easy for him without the amount of demonic blood that the red hunter had but he was managing. Still though, the half devil thought it was cute on his lover, who he now kissed like today was their last day alive. Sharp teeth nicked on tongues and lips and the two pulled away to allow their wounds a moment to heal. Dante smiled and slowed his pace down, trying to savor the moment. He leaned down and gave his lover an eskimo kiss, Nero giggled and shook his head, Dante frowned a little, wiggling his lips.

"You need to shave." He said, rubbing his cheek, trying to get rid of the scratchy feeling that he'd had before. Nero rubbed his own jaw in surprise

"Really?" he had his heels wrapped behind his lover and was pulling him into himself as best he could on his back. "You don't like my manly scruff?" he asked with a smirk, stroking his chin. Dante rolled his eyes

"Not when I'm kissing you." He said, kissing up his partner's neck, to his ear where he nipped at it. Nero finally grunted and slapped at the half devil's chest

"You fuck, seriously, speed up, you're driving me crazy here, see if I try and wake you up all nice like again." He grumbled, Dante laughed and licked around the edge the partial devil's ear

"Maybe that was the goal…" he said and finally picked up the pace, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of his partner around him, squeezing him until he was almost lightheaded. He snarled and it was like the flipping of a switch, turning from sweet lovemaking to demonic fucking in the blink of an eye. The two were practically at each other's throats, snapping and snarling and growling like animals. Nero tried to push back at Dante's chest, wanting to flip them over again and Dante roared, Triggering and flipping the partial devil onto his stomach, shoving his face into the pillows. He wasn't actually trying to prove anything, rationally Dante knew this but the demonic parts of his mind were screaming at him that this was a conquest, that he was showing the lower devil his place. It was a little strange to both love and dominate and some days be dominated with the partial devil beneath him who Triggered in response, lifting his head and howling to the skies.

The bed whacked harshly against the wall, adding more scuff marks to the already abused drywall. A few things clattered to the floor as Dante flapped his wings a few times, enjoying the freedom of the movement. Nero arched back into his stomach, his body hot as cerulean flames licked harmlessly at his skin.

"Fuck! Dante!" the partial devil howled, making further mess of their already messy bedsheets and Dante grunted, emptying himself just after the other hunter.

They both flopped back on the bed after their romp, looking at each other, all smiles, at least until they finally picked up on the sound of the stove downstairs. Nero sighed and Dante looked like his entire day had just been ruined.

"I really hope that Lady doesn't take this out on us." The blue hunter grumbled, pulling on a pair of sweatpants, swiping at his chest with a towel off the floor while he was at it. He tossed it to his lover who did the same, grumbling all the while.

"Why does she hold it over us so much?" he said, running a hand through messy hair that continued to stick up in all directions despite the attention

"She's just jealous." Nero said, opening the door and walking down the stairs to face his doom. He could smell the burnt coffee before he even reached the main floor. If there was one good thing about this is that Lady always made enough coffee for everyone whether she was angry with them or not.

"Morning Lady." He said, carefully taking the coffee mug from the cupboard, trying to avoid any action that would get him shot. He could see Dante peeking around from the top of the stairs as he did, the damn coward was leaving him to deal with the angry brunette by himself!

"Is it though?" Lady said flatly, Nero gulped, they were so dead…

A/N: I really need to wrap this up, I wanna get in some bloodborne before I go to bed so…. Yup that's all!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	3. I've Got a Job for You

A/N: Alright, one last chapter… oh boy, this could get really interesting… I asked Adam to pour me a glass of wine and he just decided that I should finish off the bottle and I'm starting to feel it a little bit, so if there are more typos in this chapter I sincerely apologize… I'm a total lightweight… It was just a bigger than normal glass of wine… *grumbles*

Disclaimer: Do buzzed disclaimers even count?

Nero yawned despite himself, Lady was going to be a bitch, as was per typical of her. To be fair he and she got along a lot better than they had when they first met, it was just that… well she still tended to be a bit judgmental toward those with demonic genes, which happened to include himself and Dante, though right now he was pretty sure that she was just jealous of the thorough screwing that he was _sure_ that she had heard, he was pretty sure that Dante was right on this one and that Lady was just jealous of them and how much they slept together and the relationship that they had with one another. While the pair of hunter had never broadcasted that they were in a relationship, is was pretty much just unspoken at this point. Even Fred's diner down the street had pretty much just accepted that the two of them were in a relationship. Any newcomers that questioned who the hotties were were quickly told by the waitress that usually served them that they were in fact taken and an item themselves. It usually stunned whichever pretty female was sitting at another table and Nero took quite a bit of joy in the look of absolute shock. Sometimes he'd even go a step further and wink at them, just to rile them up a little bit, sometimes they just blushed, and sometimes they would take it upon themselves to ask if they were up for some… _experimentation_ in the bedroom. Which they would politely decline, of course. But some of them got mad or disgusted and it just made Nero laugh these days, back when he still worked with the Order, back when he still lived on the island, he would have been disgusted too, but that was before he met Dante, that was before he and the half devil were deeply involved and intertwined, anything that Dante was a part of, he was a part of too. Or so he always assumed

-Time Slip-

The day had started like any other, the two having a go at one another in the old rickety bed which every time they did _really_ go at it, Nero was sure that they were going to have to replace. Then usually they'd go downstairs and hear Lady rant at them for causing so much noise and skipping out on the early morning crowd of calls, not that there really were enough for the three of them to split but it _did_ edge on the line of being too much for just one person, but didn't qualify as a _rush_ by any means… But if Lady called at any point in the morning that meant that one of them would get out of bed and go help her, she could certainly be a pain in the ass but that didn't mean that they wouldn't help a friend when she needed them. If it was bad enough she was calling a cell instead of the phone in the office that meant that she needed help. They were always ready when that moment came.

Trish would usually roll in a little bit later. The two of them meeting had been quite the trip. They had originally been tracking the very same demon, and had got in one another's paths… well between the she devil and Lady and her grudge against anything demonic… suffice to say that it hadn't gone too well between the two women until they realized that they had a lot more in common than they thought, including a love of screwing over the pair of partial devils… Dante begroaned that they liked Nero better but the blue hunter wasn't quite too sure of that, maybe he wasn't _quite_ as sassy as Dante was and they just didn't feel the need to take it out on him as badly but either way he definitely got his fair share.

Morrison would stop by later in the day, sometimes with, and sometimes without Patty. Sometimes the young girl would come by all on her own. Though now that she had been reunited with her mother she swung by a lot less frequently, Nero wasn't sure if he liked the quiet more or if he missed the tiny blonde whirlwind of energy flying about the place. He remembered some of the adventures they'd had between meeting the young kind of orphan and her reunion, they'd been crazy, from everything to helping Dante break out of a max security prison to winning a poker tournament that he'd never thought he'd win… The past couple years had been quite the adventure

-Time Slip-

It was Morrison slipping in the door around noon that tipped Nero off to something being odd about the day, Morrison was usually collecting more information from the early risers of the underground at this time, people usually didn't _really_ start talking till four or five and then he'd come the next day around three with info that he'd confirmed that early afternoon and originally picked up the night previous.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, slipping his boots up onto the table in much the same position as Dante usually would, relaxing back in the chair. Morrison paused, looking at him

"You look just like him." Nero knew he was referring to the half devil and shrugged

"Getting my usual gettup repaired, Dante's got spares." He looked down at the overlaying black and red leather "Not my style really but gotta do what you gotta do." Morrison nodded

"Well ah, I've got a job for you."

A/N: And I'm done for this week! Woot! Anywho I'm gonna hope there's not too many typos in this…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	4. You're Rubbing Off on Me

A/N: One chapter left and then I have to clean up and do homework… *grumbles* I really, really don't want to do this homework but it's due by 4:00 tomorrow… grr… it's just a class I don't really care about, it's my last engineering gen ed (basically engineering stuff that has nothing to do with electrical or computer engineering) therefore it feels really unimportant to me…

Disclaimer: Environmental Science, that's what.

You're Rubbing Off on Me

Dante wasn't expecting to come home to find Nero out, usually the other hunter was lounging about or actually doing the laundry that Dante was too lazy to take care of until he had no other options. He looked at the desk and saw most of the paper cleared to the side and a single page in the middle. Must've left a note, the red slayer thought, walking over and picking it up.

 _Left on a mission, might be a few days. Call you when I get there_

 _-Nero_

The half devil smiled, at least the other cared enough to call, though most of the time he would do the same. Unless it was something small, like he got called out on this morning, just a handful of demons that took a few minutes longer than anticipated and the client took even _longer_ than the half devil wanted to deal with. But even then he hadn't been gone long and he hadn't even left the city, if Nero had really wanted to find him, he would've been able to.

"I guess I have the place to myself then…" Dante grinned, leaning back in his chair just as Nero had done several hours before. Only to have his peace interrupted after a few seconds when a shrill voice called from the front of the shop.

"Dante! You're going to take me to the fair!" the half devil groaned, so much for the rest of the day off…

-Time Slip-

Several hours later the red hunter finally managed to pull himself away from the overactive young blonde by passing her off to her mother who hadn't been aware that her daughter had nigh on dragged the devil hunter to the fair. She apologized, though she found it all to amusing that her young kid had the ability to command around such a powerful half devil, and took Patty home. Dante sighed when he walked back inside, praying to any gods that would listen that neither Trish nor Lady were going to interrupt his peaceful time at home. He had just settled back in his favorite position when the phone rang.

"What?!" he snapped into the receiver.

"Fine, see if I ever call you to tell you I made it safe again." Came Nero's bemused voice over the line.

"No, no, I'm sorry, I just got dragged all over the place by Patty, I'm glad to hear your travels went well, where are you at?" Dante sat up now, obviously interested by his partner's exploits. Nero laughed

"I figured it had to be one of the girls. The plane ride was a bitch, but they always are, not as bad as your flying skills though." The partial devil teased, Dante scoffed, though he wasn't sure if Nero meant his skills with piloting a biplane or his actual flying skills. He shrugged it off when Nero continued

"Anyway, I'm in a big city, nearly half way around the world feels like. Got the tip called in by some old woman, apparently we got some crazy maniac who's trying to make himself a god… again." Dante chuckled

"Okay, you be careful, those usually aren't easy missions." He could practically _hear_ Nero rolling his eyes

"I know, I know _mom_. I'll be careful though."

"Call me if you need help."

"I will." Dante hesitated a second before saying

"I love you." Nero felt his cheeks heat up. No matter how many times they exchanged those words, it never felt old.

"I love you too. Now I gotta go, parently one of the clients is supposed to show up at a museum." The line went dead and Dante was left smiling softly at nothing in the darkening office. He put the phone back on the receiver and leaned back. Maybe he'd just take a small nap before some of the late night action started up…

The half devil woke up to the sun pouring into the office and groaned, he hadn't meant to sleep that long at all… what was wrong with him…? He twisted a few kinks out of his neck from sleeping in the old wooden chair for so long. He stood up and stretched, it was unusual for the whole night to pass without anything of importance happening. The half devil meandered up the stairs and into the shower, already missing the other hunter, usually Nero would be in here with him, sometimes they screwed, sometimes they merely just chatted while cleaning up from a busy night. Either way it was always comforting to have the partial devil's presence around. He'd really grown used to it, not that Nero hadn't taken an overnight mission on his own before, it wasn't that unusual at all for him to do so actually. But it had been a long time… the half devil stepped out of the shower and onto the cold tile floor. He shivered and quickly threw on some clothes before walking downstairs. No one was in the office and after making and eating something Dante found himself exceedingly bored. Sure they had had lulls in demonic activity before but usually there was at least _someone_ to kill the boredom with. Dante grumbled about for a bit before his eyes fell on the steps to the basement… Nero had started some laundry yesterday.

"Dammit Nero, you're rubbing off on me…" the half devil grumbled before heading down the stairs.

A/N: Aaaaaarrrrrgggg, I don't want to have to do homework now… halp… Also I kinda actually really like this chapter, it was like a glance into their everyday life and it was fun :3

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	5. Do That Again

A/N: Ermagurd… loooong day so far, I'm currently sitting in the café at the engineering campus, waiting for my last class, which also happens to be my last engineering elective and I couldn't give less shits about it. *grumbles* I'll probably be typing in class too… but it'll be a different chapter than this one. And I made sure that no ones going to read over my shoulder cause this chapter could definitely get spicy :3

Disclaimer: Oh yeah… I should post the previous chapter for this today… oops

Do That Again

Dante was about ready to start climbing the walls, he was sooooo bored… It had only been about half a day since Nero had left but he didn't know what to do to keep himself occupied. He had taken a nap, lounged around, hell he'd even done a bunch of cleaning and now he still had nothing to do. The half devil momentarily wondered if Trish and Lady were plotting to get him killed with his own boredom but that seemed a bit outlandish, even for them… So when the phone started ringing, the red hunter was all too eager to answer it.

"Devil may cry." He said enthusiastically, he heard his partner laugh on the other end.

"Someone sounds a bit eager for a job. Is it a lack of activity or is one of the girls there?" Nero teased. Dante made a face

"Shut up." This just made the partial devil laugh, Dante leaned back in his chair, thankful for any distraction at all at this point. "How's your mission going?" he asked, now it was Nero's turn to grumble. The other hunter sighed and Dante could practically see him pinching the bridge of his nose in his mind's eye

"The whole city is possessed, I'm taking a break in a hotel outside of town to get my bearings before I go charging in guns blazing." Dante puffed his cheeks out

"You need any help?"

"Nah, there's some chick who's kinda helping, just met her at a museum a bit ago,"

"Is she hot?" Dante asked jokingly, Nero huffed

"What do you care?" the partial devil asked and Dante grinned, suddenly coming up with an idea to appease the boredom.

"I don't, so what are you wearing?"

"What." Nero's voice was flat, he knew what Dante was trying to do the second the sentence left his lips.

"I said, what are you wearing? I just wanna know, I know your usual hunting gettup is being repaired so you can't be in your usual. Did you take the risk and go with casual clothes knowing that they'll be destroyed by the end of the mission or did you go with something more practical?" Nero felt his cheeks heat up and he mumbled under his breath. He heard Dante chuckle and knew that he was caught. Not that he was necessarily opposed to this but… he blushed harder and leaned back on the bed, he knew where this was going, might as well be comfortable.

"I could always go check the closet…" Dante mused, though they both knew that he wasn't going to get up.

"All of my good hunting gear is either dirty or getting repaired, I took some of yours." The partial devil admitted, face on fire. Dante felt himself twitch a little harder now at the idea of Nero in his clothes.

"What did you take?" he closed his eyes, his partner leaping into his mind without any effort.

"The red one." Nero teased and Dante grumbled.

"They're all red." He mumbled "I wanna know which one so I can picture taking it off of you." Nero let out a shaky sigh, picturing the half devil leaning back, hands itching to take himself in hand.

"You're in the main office aren't you…?" Nero said, shuffling the phone to a more comfortable position.

"Maybe…" they both knew that was the only phone in the building.

"You little slut." The partial devil whispered, the idea that anyone could just walk in the door and catch the half devil with his hand down his pants…

"You're the one wearing my clothes." Dante pointed out and the blue hunter grinned, pulling up the vest up his stomach a little, shuffling around so that the flowing cape didn't get in the way as much.

"The one with the black vest built into the coat." He relented and the half devil grinned, he could see his partner in it perfectly.

"I knew you'd look pretty sexy in my clothes, and of course you do it when you're leaving. Are you touching yourself yet?"

"Yeah cause I did it to spite you." Nero grunted and then sighed, answering Dante's question without a word. Then he smirked in spite of himself, he had to get Dante well into it in the middle of the office. The idea of it was just too appealing…

"This leather is soft… feels good…" he mumbled, though definitely loud enough for the half devil to hear. He was rewarded with the sound of a groan

"You're going to jack off with my gloves on?" Dante asked gripping himself a little tighter. That spitfire was going to be the death of him…

"I recall you saying that it's sexy…" Nero bucked up into his own hands, he hadn't been lying, the feel of the leather on his cock was extremely nice. He didn't have much time left, he glanced outside, seeing the sun descending. "Man if you were here right now…" he heard Dante's breath catch. "I would lean you down on the bed, run my hands down you bare sides…"

"Yeah…" Dante hissed, pulling his feet down from the desk to get a better angle on himself.

"Can you feel it…?" Nero whispered "I would strip you bare, bend you over and spear you oh so slowly."

"Fuck… More Nero…"

"I would push you till you couldn't stand it and then I would grab you tight…" the partial devil paused, trying to catch his own breath at the idea.

"I gotta…" the half devil growled.

"Urgh, Dante…" Nero was unable to finish his thought as his spilled over himself, hearing Dante finishing off over the line.

"Man we need to do that again…"

A/N: Nero you sexy little perv XD This was enjoyable, I hope everyone else like it too :p

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	6. So Do You Nero

A/N: Just one more chapter and then I'm all done for the week! Woot woot! Then I have to get started on homework and notes and reading and studying… boo… But the more I get done at the start of the week, the less I have to do come the weekend… Also I've gotta type this quickly, I've got class in 45 minutes… Engineering economy… real thrilling. Actually it's not too bad, I've never taken an econ class before.

Disclaimer: I barely own the laptop I'm typing on.

So Do You Nero

Several days later Dante was sure that he was going to go stir-crazy, it wasn't like their business was super profitable, or super busy all the time and right now was the time of the year that had a tendency to be a bit slower but usually he had Nero to keep him company. Trish and Lady had come by only to leave pretty quickly when they found out how irritable and grouchy their business partner was. The half devil just was awfully worried about his partner and lover, was the partial devil doing okay? Did he need help? Was he overwhelmed or just busy and that's why it had been a few days since he'd heard from him. He was pacing when the doors opened, he didn't even look up and just said

"We're closed." He didn't want to deal with people who had no idea what they were getting themselves into right now.

"Fine. I'll leave." Came a just as irritated reply. Dante's head snapped up to see the partial devil standing in the doorway, looking tired and beaten. The half devil ignored the amount of soot and grime that covered his partner and promptly swept him into a tight hug. Nero grunted

"Can't breathe Dante…" he mumbled into the half devil's shoulder, though didn't try to get out of the embrace. He heard Dante take a deep breath, and most of the tension that had been in his partner's frame dissipated with that exhale. The red hunter pulled back and looked into the partial devil's eyes and then looked him up and down.

"What happened? I thought you said you would call me if things got a little too difficult?" Nero sighed.

"Kinda hard to get cell service in hell." He grumbled, Dante's eyes widened

"What?! You were in hell?!" Nero nodded tiredly, he was barely managing to remain on his feet. He looked at the clock on the wall, four am… no wonder the buses hadn't been running… He'd had to hitchhike back once he got to town. He'd been out of money for a taxi then anyway… Dante looked him up and down again and then sighed

"Come on, I'll clean you up, but you have to stay awake well enough to answer my questions. I'll try to use small words." The teasing remark and the smirk was enough to make Nero smile and lob a weak jab at his partner, who just laughed at the half assed attempt. He looped an arm under his lover's shoulder and helped him up the stairs to the shower. He had debated just carrying the younger but knew that Nero wouldn't like the insinuation that he wasn't strong enough to do it himself and the blue hunter had clearly done one hell of a job.

"So what happened? I thought you said it was just a crazy, wannabe god again." Dante said

"He pulled some powerful devil from the demonic realm, don't remember the name." Nero said as he tried to help Dante pull the red leather from his body. "Kicked the sucker's ass but the devil was actively trying to exit the hellgate then… in its own body…" Dante nodded, he'd been in a similar situation before, not common for sure but it did happen that when you tried to pull out a devil's power for you own use you got the monster's attention while you were at it.

"So you entered the hellgate to close it from the inside and defeat the devil while you were at it. What did it look like?" He adjusted the water to a good temperature and stripped off his own clothes, helping the partial devil to his feet again and over the lip of the tub and into the warm spray. He could _feel_ every tense muscle in Nero's body relax then as the heat started to work out some of the knots. "Sit." He commanded his partner, who complied without a complaint. The half devil grabbed the shampoo as the other man answered

"At first it just looked like a blob of things we've killed in the past, powerful things." Dante made a face

"I hate those things, they just collect power of other, defeated monsters… it's pathetic."

"Then it was fast, like a man shaped thing of lava…" Dante noticed the amount of ash that he was currently washing out of his lover's hair and realized that that was where it had come from.

"And the contact?" he asked

"She's sending the check. Called back after I got out of the hellgate. Ended up far away from where I started though…" Dante chuckled and gently rinsed the soap off of Nero's head.

"That'll happen."

"She's like Trish." The half devil raised a brow though Nero couldn't see it, he wasn't sure if Nero had opened his eyes since getting in the shower "A created devil, took a lot of explaining to get her to understand that that was okay."

"She gonna join our ragtag group too?" Nero shook his head, standing as Dante prompted him to scrub the grime of hell off his frame

"She's got a place to stay, a place that accepts her." Nero's eyes flashed open as Dante planted a gentle kiss on his lips.

"So do you Nero."

A/N: D'aww! Props to people who figure out where Nero was :3 It's a little bit of blending of storylines, also I didn't feel like typing all the way through that mission too… But I thought this was cute :3 Dante taking care of poor sleepy Nero.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	7. Where Anyone Can See

A/N: Alright, back on campus after lunch now… and after cleaning up after my roommates… again. I swear they think they're allergic to dish soap or something… *grumbles some more* So I'm going to type some beautiful, beautiful yaoi and forget about the whole thing.

Disclaimer: Why in the second half of this are you people still questioning my lack of ownership?

Where Anyone Can See

Nero rolled over when the sun started to shine directly into his face, had he forgotten to close the blinds last night…? He grumbled and shuffled closer to the half devil on the darker side of the bed. Said half devil was sprawled out like he was trying to impersonate a star fish and not doing a very good job. The partial devil yawned and blinked blearily, remembering getting home last night and Dante cleaning him up before shuffling him into the bed. Though he could barely remember any of the questions his partner had asked him about the mission, let alone his answers. He smiled at the white haired man who shuffled a little in his sleep, giving a little snort and twitching his nose before he settled back into a deep sleep. The partial devil suppressed a laugh and kissed his lover's forehead before rolling to his feet and hitting the bathroom and walking down the stairs to make himself a cup of coffee. Surprisingly Lady was already there and handed him the mug she had been pouring for herself before snagging another silently.

"You're quiet this morning." Nero commented, Lady snorted at the morning comment, it was nearly eleven, almost the afternoon.

"I saw your stuff next to the couch, I figured that you didn't get back until very late last night, thought I'd steal some coffee and leave the mission details on the desk." Nero nodded, looking over his shoulder at where he'd practically dropped Red Queen and the couple other odds and ends he'd picked up over the course of the mission and then grimaced at the idea of cleaning it all up and then figuring out what to do with all of them… Though there was that pendent that affected his Trigger, made it a hell of a lot stronger and more like Dante's. He smirked, clenching his demonic arm, feeling the pulse of the pendent within it. There was the light creak of the stairs as Dante descended, rounding the corner dressed in just a pair of sweatpants and looking for all the world like the most delectable person ever to the partial devil who stood, blowing the steam from his coffee. He set it on the counter, he'd reheat it later.

"You're going to have to excuse us Lady, I need this man to tear my clothes off." Nero said cheekily. Dante stopped mid yawn and then a huge grin grew upon his face. Lady rolled her eyes and patted Nero on the shoulder.

"Don't hurt him too much, we still need him for cannon fodder." Dante shot her a flat look and Lady stuck her tongue out at him as she exited the office. As soon as Nero heard the roar of her motorcycle tearing down the street he turned to face his partner, a fire in his eyes. Dante just grinned.

"Somebody's a little bit excited this morning." If he was going to continue, he didn't get the chance as the partial devil's lips crashed into his own. After breaking the lip lock Nero responded

"I was deprived of you for almost a week, I'm surprised that you didn't act first." Dante pretended to look offended, his palm slapping into his bare chest.

"Moi? What kind of person do you take me for?" Nero ground their hips together harshly, earning a soft groan from the half devil as his lover pushed against his quickly awakening member.

"The horny kind with an equally horny lover who has been gone for some time. Now what are we going to do about that?" he asked, kissing down his lover's scruffy jaw. Dante flipped them around, a small growl working its way from his throat as he pushed against the other male.

"Well then mister lonely, how do you want to go about this?" he kept up the pace, bucking lightly against the other hunter and running calloused hands down his bare sides. Nero smirked now, tickling his clawed fingertips up Dante's abs and loving the shiver that swept up the half devil's spine.

"How long has it been since we did it down here?" he asked, glancing toward the office area where the sun streamed in from the dirty windows. Dante laughed.

"That really turned you on didn't it?" he asked, referring to the phone call they'd made at the beginning of the blue hunter's mission. Nero flipped them around again, pushing a little harder than intended, although he would be a liar if he said the grunt that Dante gave didn't make him a little harder.

"So what if it did?" he said, reaching inside the half devil's pants and teasing the head of the other man for a moment. Dante grinned and sighed, trying to buck into his lover's hand. Nero leaned forward to whisper into his partner's ear "I want you over the desk, right out where anyone could see…" Dante bucked a little harder at that idea, running his hands down Nero's back and grabbing his ass, pushing their hips together. Then, of course, the door swung open.

A/N: Okay, okay, I'm an awful person, but it'll pick right back up next week and also, I have to go to class in ten minutes. So I'll leave this one right here and pick it up again next week, kay? Please don't kill me…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	8. I Want to See You

A/N: Wow, this is really really weird... I'm now typing from my iPad right in front of the classroom as I can't very well be typing this chapter on a public computer where anyone can walk by and look at it over my shoulder now can I? Yeah so I'm typing directly on the document manager cause I don't have any sort of word processor on my iPad that can do word counting. So here we are and I am super excited to get going on this chapter.

Disclaimer: Nothing.

I Want to See You

Nero turned to glare at the person viciously, his hand still down his partners pants. The man who had just walked in the door froze, his face an almost comedic picture of shock. Dante patted his lover's shoulder and whispered into his ear.

"Later." Before disengaging from the intimate embrace. He walked over to the desk and plopped back in the chair, sliding the mission Lady had dropped off out of the way.

"What can I do for you?" He asked, either oblivious or ignoring the man's discomfort. Nero let out a growl-y sort of snort and then lounged back on the loveseat, looking at his claws with feigned interest. It had been a long time since he'd stopped caring what other's thought of his very obvious demonic blood. It helped when people walked in the door too, kept some of the pranks to a minimum when they saw that himself and Dante were the real deal and not just some idiots out to make a quick buck.

"I... I heard that you were the one who could handle... Um... Supernatural... Problems?" The poor man stuttered out, Nero grinned, Dante was probably going to have a field day with this guy... A nearly identical grin grew on his partner's face

"You might be able to say that, what kind of issue we talking here, hellhounds? Furys? Some boring old scarecrows?" The man just blinked at the half devil, clearly not knowing what to say.

"Um..."

"Well just spit it out, we haven't got all day, I'd really not like to leave Nero hanging." He nodded to the partial devil on the couch who just shot him a glare.

"I'll... I'll just call back later!" The man squeaked, turning on his heel and nearly bolting from the building. Dante looked at his partner who was smirking heavily and trying to contain his laughter

"You're not off the hook yet." Dante growled, stalking over and straddling the younger man "You may have just lost us a job." Nero practically choked on his own spit

"Me? How on earth is that my fault, you're the one who spooked the poor guy!" Though the partial devil couldn't help but roll his hips beneath the red hunter, loving the way the man responded in kind.

"Yeah but you're the one who had your hand down my pants." Dante whispered in his partner's ear before licking the shell and delighting in the way Nero shivered

"I'm gonna do so much worse than that if you keep talking like that." The partial devil threatened, Dante smirked, feeling himself twitch back to life within seconds

"Just try it..." He teased, running sharp teeth down the other male's jaw. The next thing that Dante felt was his bare chest smacking into the cool wood of the desk and the warmth of his lover's body draping over him.

"Maybe I will." Nero growled in his ear, thrusting against his backside and curling his claws into Dante's snowy locks.

"Oh fuck..." The half devil rumbled out, he loved it when he pushed the partial devil just a little too far, the blue hunter had caught on to the tricks after a while but that didn't make them any less enjoyable, in fact it just made the other slayer push back harder, sometimes breaking even Dante's iron hard control. Speaking of hard... He arched back into the partial devil as he bucked harshly into him again. Nero's clawed fingertips gripped his jaw and turned it to face him, blazing hot lips claiming his own. He almost laughed when the kiss became less engaging and he heard Nero rooting around in the drawer for the container of lube that they had made sure to put in there after their last encounter over the desk. The drawer slammed closed and Nero yanked his lover's pants down over his ass, shimmying out of his own as well before Dante felt the cool gel coated fingers brush against his opening. The half devil sighed as Nero skipped one finger and went right for two, scissoring them, spreading him open carefully before teasing at his spot that sent sparks up behind his eyes.

"Nero, stop teasing me and fuck me already." Dante grumbled, rocking back against the partial devil who just chuckled and a moment later rubbed his slicked member against the curve of his partner's ass, biting back a groan when Dante encouraged him down and in. He closed his eyes to better concentrate on the tight hot feeling squeezing him so wonderfully, the partial devil sighed, running his hands over his lovers sides before opening his eyes again and pulling back only to shove roughly back into the white haired man beneath him. Dante grunted at the treatment, both pleased and a little disgruntled at the rough treatment. He waited until Nero's thrusts became slightly uneven to reach a hand back and get the other slayer's attention.

"Hmm?" Nero nuzzled his back, slowing his pace a little.

"Let me turn around, I want to see you." Dante said, Nero acquiesced quickly, allowing the half devil to flip over so his back was on the desk, groaning openly when his lover shoved back in. He wrapped his legs around the other man and Nero leaned forward to kiss him, his demonic hand slipping around Dante's throbbing member as he did. Dante gasped at the contact, expected but still a surprise, and bucked up into the warm hand. On another particularly hard thrust the half devil let go spurting over their bare chests. The sight, along with the ever imposing threat of someone just walking in, was enough to send Nero following after. He collapsed on top of his lover only to hear the phone go off right next to their heads. Blue eyes met blue and they both burst into laughter.

A/N: Meh, that was okay, I know I can do better than that, maybe I'll just try again next chapter :p

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	9. I Understand

A/N: I just might be doing this in class again, I mean it's over in two minutes but... I'm tired and this professor doesn't really teach in class so... Typing. Typing sounds so, so much better, especially considering the upcoming chapter ;p

Disclaimer: *grrrrrrr*

I Understand

Nero gave a couple weak thrusts, enjoying the aftershocks even as the phone continued to ring. Dante chuckled

"You gonna let me answer that?" The half devil asked, running a gentle hand down his lover's back. Nero sighed and pushed himself up

"Devil May Cry." He said into the receiver, not bothering to move from his partner, Trish's voice rang through the phone

"Nero would you please get off of Dante? I brought breakfast and some news." The partial devil's face turned bright crimson and he quickly pulled out of his partner, who just winced at the feeling and shot a curious look at the other hunter.

"Just give us five, we'll be respectable." Dante blinked at him as he tossed the phone back onto the receiver, still blushing brightly

"That was Trish. She wanted to know if it was safe to come in." Nero explained, ducking into the bathroom and grabbing a clean hand towel.

"She's seen worse." Dante commented, stealing the towel from his partner's hand. Nero grumbled and grabbed another and started to wipe himself down. Nero scoffed

"I don't think that she wants to see more..." He said, yanking his sweatpants back over his hips, giving Dante a shove as he attempted the same, snickering as the half devil stumbled and shot him a glare. Trish walked in a moment later, looked around and wrinkled her nose

"You guys just can't give it a break can you. Some of us have sensitive noses." Dante rolled his eyes and flopped back against Nero who had taken up a spot on couch. Said partial devil grumbled but quickly gave up when Dante smiled up at him, he looked back to Trish."

"We did give it a break, I was gone for a while." Trish huffed and picked up the folder that was sitting on the edge of the desk.

"You guys need to check this out, there's been some activity in Nero's old hometown." Both hunters looked at her seriously now, Nero had wondered sometimes what had become of Fortuna after he'd left, and though he'd told him to quite worrying about it, Dante had wondered too. "I'm going to go do some prescouting, I'll give a call when you should join me. Gods know that this won't go smoothly."

"Nothing ever does." Dante commented casually

"Just thought I'd stop by, bring bagels and tell you to actually get some research done before starting the mission." she looked at them sprawled on the couch.

"Nero get more sleep, you still look like roadkill." The partial devil promptly flicked her off, she laughed and walked out of the shop with a swish of long blonde hair. Nero sighed, walking up to the desk the second she left and looking at the file Lady had left on the dark wood. He flipped it open, scanning the contents and feelings his stomach sink as he did. Dante's arms wrapped around his torso and soft lips pressed against the side of his neck. The partial devil sighed but and turned to look at his partner, Dante smiled softly at him, and ran a hand over his hair.

"What's the damage?" He asked, nodding at the file still held delicately in the partial devil's demonic arm, Nero sighed and looked closer at the file

"Credo's still alive." He said, seeing the demonic form of the man whom he'd thought of as a brother for most of his life. He could feel Dante's breath whoosh out of him in surprise as he inspected the photo in the file, the weapon in his hand looked like a devil arm, though it was hard to tell in a photo.

"They're collecting devil's and devil arms according to Lady." Nero said softly "I would've hoped that they would've given that up after the shake-up that we gave them when we left." The half devil removed his arms from the younger and stepped closer, taking the file and glossing over the notes that Lady had made. Then something registered with him

"Wait, 'given that up?' As in, they were doing it before?" Nero nodded absently, still looking at the paper in his hand

"Not to the degree that Lady has noted here, but yes, they did keep ones that were found and we were actively encouraged to capture devil's alive when possible, but I always thought it was to find better means of taking them out, not experimentation... We're gonna have to go back aren't we?" Dante looked at his partner, the partial devil looked so nervous and hurt about the situation that his heart panged in sympathy for the other hunter.

"I could handle it, you don't have to go back there." Dante said honestly, setting the file back on the table, the partial devil looked up at him, blue eyes full of old heartache

"I appreciate the offer, but I need to be there, it was my home, I can't just abandon it. If I can save any of the people that I care about, I will." Dante smiled, he knew Nero would say that.

"I understand."

A/N: Class is almost over so I gotta wrap this up, anywho, happy Halloween guys! My favorite holiday! Youmacon's at the end of the week! Eeeeee! I'm so excited, plus I've got a new cosplay this year! Yay! Hope you guys have a good holiday and enjoy the end of spoop season!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	10. The Hell is That!

A/N: Okay so I'm back on the good ole tablet again, also quick update, for anyone who reads Anagram along with this one, I'm gonna have a couple week break in that one so I can have time to reread the novel. It won't take long but I'm gonna use the time that I would normally be typing chapter to refresh my memory on what happened and how Vergil fit into the whole thing. Anywho, this story is going to start rolling into the action real soon here! Woot!

Disclaimer: I still own nothing, why does nobody seem to understand that!? Geez!

The Hell is That?!

The boys spent most of the remainder of the day going over the notes that Lady and Trish had left for them and calling up various contacts to get as much information on the mission beforehand that they could. The pair had learned that missions typically went easier when they had more knowledge going into the start of it, that didn't mean that it ever went smoothly, things never when smoothly in this business... But damn if they wern't going to be as prepared as possible. Nero sighed as he slammed another tome from Dante's rather impressive collection closed, he had been trying to identify one of the weapons in the pictures that they were pretty sure was a devil arm but they weren't positive, so far all of his searches had turned up nothing. It was hard to search based off of a rather crappy picture, still the picture was better than nothing. Not for the first time he wondered where Lady got these sources from, he and Dante didn't have this kind of luck with sources... He groaned and tilted his head back, his neck creaking awkwardly when he did so. Dante glanced up from his own search.

"I feel ya man..." He sighed, tossing the book to the side and swearing irritatedly when it closed, losing the page he was on.

"It doesn't help that some of these are in the demonic tongue and it takes me way longer to read." Nero grumbled, rubbing the space between his eyebrows, trying to alleviate some of the headache forming there.

"I offered to help you brush up on your skills." Dante said from his chair, trying to stretch the stiffness out of his own limbs. Nero flicked him off with a glowing finger

"I'm not as lucky as you, I didn't grow up speaking it like you did." He sassed, Dante rolled his eyes

"That was only before my dad left, my mom tried to keep Verge and I up on it but it was harder for her cause she wasn't fluent either." The partial devil huffed and stood

"I need a break." He announced, meandering into the kitchen, looking for something to snack on and begrudgingly picking up a slice of day old pizza, he hadn't eaten since he had gotten home and who knew how long it had been before that... The partial devil wolfed the food down in a few seconds and then peered into the fridge for something to wash it down with. He could hear his partner get up to follow him, trying to dodge around the mess of books and papers that the main room had become. He was just chugging a glass of juice when Dante's fingers dug into his sides. He promptly choked on the juice, leaning over the sink to get the liquid from his lungs as Dante cackled behind him.

"You ass!" He coughed when he had the air to do so, Dante just snickered "You become a real trouble maker when you're bored you know that?" He sighed when he finally felt like he could breathe properly again. The half devil smirked evily

"I am very well aware of that." The look in his eyes spoke of something that sent shivers down the other hunter's spine. He smirked back and slapped the side of his lover's arm

"Race you to the bed!" Nero loved the sound of the growl that followed him rapidly up the stairs, fully expecting the tackle that sent him flying to the bed and bouncing on the unmade sheets. He grinned at the red eyes that stared down at him and growled back at the devil holding him hostage, his demonic arm pulsing brighter with the heightened demonic auras that filled the room. It was a game that they played over and over again, the threats weren't serious and the growls were playful but it was so very thrilling for the both of them to let loose on their inner devils. Dante was already shucking the sweatshirt he'd pulled on earlier to help with the cold of the main office and was back to rutting against the partial devil seconds later. Nero groaned and tilted his head back, allowing Dante full access to his neck, the half devil happily licked and nibbled up and down the pale column of flesh. Nero chuckled darkly, feeling his excitement mounting by the moment, his demonic instincts pushing to the front of his mind and he could feel his Trigger starting to itch across his skin.

"So you think that just because I took you downstairs you can take me here and now?" He teased and Dante pulled back to look at him, smirking and showing off sharp fangs.

"Of course, it's only fair isn't it?" He teased, Nero growled, allowing his Trigger to finish in a flash of blue light, automatically drawing upon the amulet locked within his demonic arm and flipping them over, loving the expression of shock on Dante's face

"The hell is this?!"

A/N: Okay so I'm really evil aren't I? :) Anywho, it's spoop day and I've got a ton of shit to do so I'm gonna keep going on all of that!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	11. Good Gods Above

A/N: *sighs* I don't want to be productive… I just want to sit at home and play Zelda and/or Bloodborne, instead I'm actually typing for you guys (and also avoiding homework and studying and job searching…) anywho, this chapter'll be fun to type in the middle of the computer lab, where hopefully no one will read over my shoulder XD if they do they're in for a treat… totally helps that I'm surrounded by a bunch of dudes too… not.

Disclaimer: If I owned DMC I don't think I'd be typing in the computer lab of my college's engineering campus…

Good Gods Above

Nero just grinned wolfishly, baring sharp teeth at his partner and kissed him deeply, pushing against the half devil greedily. Dante gasped and the blue hunter took the opportunity to explore his lover's mouth, gripping his shoulders as though he might leave at the slightest provocation. When he pulled back Dante was looking at him with dazed eyes but they still held a spark of wonder

"But seriously… what the hell is that…? I thought…" he trailed off, his brain not quite firing on all cylinders.

"Something I picked up on the mission, lets me complete my Trigger," Nero reached a hand into the other hunter's pants then, loving the way that Dante's entire body stiffened at his touch. "now… are you going to keep asking me questions or are you going to let us have some fun here?" his wings twitched in the open air, a sensation that the partial devil was still getting used to, the whole idea of having a completed devil trigger was fun and new to him. But he'd be a piss poor liar if he said he hadn't wondered about it in this regard from the moment it'd happened. Dante grinned up at him and arched his back at he let his own Trigger crawl over his skin, the insides of his wings highlighting the dim room in an orange light as they spread across the sheets. The half devil tried to roll them over again, pushing up awkwardly from the bed, it was a move that the both of them had a lot of practice with their playful fights for dominance between the sheets. Nero shoved him back down and nipped at his partner's armored throat, this elicited a loud growl from the other man, suddenly pushing harder to flip them.

"Ah, ah, ahh…" Nero teased, enjoying his newfound strength and the whines that Dante was starting to emit as his struggles became weaker. "I told you, it's my turn."

"Nero…you… you should stop that." Dante panted as Nero continued to stroke the two of them, keeping up a languid pace.

"But I don't want to," the partial devil whispered in his ear, hot breath tickling just below where his horn emerged from his head. "doesn't it feel good…?" he asked pushing a little bit harder to emphasize his words. Dante growled again, he was pretty sure he was going to lose control of his inner devil… it was all just too much, the feel of Nero, the heavier demonic presence in the room…

"Ack!" he yelped when the partial devil started to push inside of him with absolutely no warning, the other hunter paused when he shouted out and the sting abated as he attempted to relax and healing factors began to kick in. "The fuck are you doing?!" he growled, glaring at his lover, the instincts in the back of his head screaming at him now, he wanted to flip them over and reverse the positions now and see how the partial devil liked it. Nero just grinned sheepishly

"Sorry, just a bit more excited than usual, I think it's just having you here and like this and…" he trailed off, taking a shuddering breath, every muscle in his body quivering with the effort of keeping still. The half devil let off a half sigh, half growl and just hoped that he'd be able to keep it together before wrapping his legs around the other man and pulling him deeper.

Nero felt his eyes roll back in his head, sure it had been only a week since they'd last done this but all the same… everything just felt so _different_ in this form… so intense… like every nerve was on fire… he growled low in his throat and pushed again, Dante responding in all the right ways. Growls, nips, claws raking down his back…it was just too much for the partial devil… he let go far sooner than he had wanted to, a loud whine breaking from the pit of his stomach.

He leaned forward, supporting himself on one hand but didn't even have time to catch his breath before he was flipped onto his back, bright amber eyes staring down at him at the half devil pushed at his entrance, the hot hard pressure slowly slipping inside.

"Ah!" Nero cried out, in his exhaustion losing grip on his Trigger and it disappeared in a flash of light. Dante growled again, the man lost from those bright, bright eyes as he pushed forward without mercy, starting a brutal pace on the blue hunter, who couldn't help but throw his head back and groan like a cheap whore.

"Fuck!" the word wasn't much more than a library whisper in volume but carried more weight than a war cry, Dante could hear in it his lover's renewed arousal, his love/ hate relationship with how good it felt to submit to another… the half devil reached between their bodies, Nero's member still slick from his first release, and matched the speed of his own thrusts, his own end quickly approaching. He threw his head back, a silent cry escaping his lips as he tipped over the edge, taking his lover along with him.

The two collapsed, all too human, soiled and exhausted onto the sheets, too tired to care to move beyond nestling into one another's arms

"Good gods above that was amazing."

A/N: Nothing like some good ole smut to get ya goin in the morning huh?

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	12. Never Will Be

A/N: Ugh… I am so slow moving today… I should've gotten a lot more done at this point today but here I am typing this a lot later than I anticipated… I'm so sleepy… I just need a nap…

Disclaimer: Wat.

Never Will Be

Nero woke up the next morning and just lay there, staring at the ceiling, feeling a bit conflicted. On one hand, he felt great, if a bit sore, and his lover was lying next to him snoozing the day away. On the other hand they were going to leave to begin scouting out Fortuna today to see if they can do some recon before the mission got really underway. The half devil next to him grumbled and snuggled into his arm

"Stop thinking about it." He said "Go back to sleep and snuggle me." He continued. Nero blinked slowly before looking over at Dante's face, the other man still had his eyes closed and his breathing had quickly evened back out into that of sleep. The partial devil grunted in mild irritation, Dante had the obnoxious ability to fall back asleep even when he shouldn't be able to. The conscious hunter slowly detangled himself from his lover and walked downstairs, groaning at the mess the main room had exploded into, there were papers _everywhere_. He sighed and began the process of picking them all up while the coffee was brewing. He separated notes from loose papers and stacked the books in a huge pile. He looked at the teetering stack, deciding that putting them in their proper place in the spare room would have to wait until they got back. The finished pile of notes was sadly small and the partial devil sighed again, they hadn't been able to find nearly as much information beforehand as they had wanted. There wasn't much that could be done at this point though, they were going to leave before the day progressed too far, hoping to catch the last ferry to the island tonight. Nero sat back with his cup of coffee, beginning a mental list of what he still needed to pack. Dante was downstairs a bit later, pouring a cup of now stale coffee and joining his partner on the couch. He looked at the stack of books and then the small stack of notes on the end table.

"Is that really all we got?" he asked and Nero nodded, knocking back the dregs of his drink, wincing as the grounds that had snuck their way in slipped into his mouth. He made a face and then stood, wandering toward the stairs, grabbing his duffle on the way. Dante grunted and then he heard the footsteps of the other man following him up the stairs.

"How long you figure we'll be gone?" he asked and Nero sighed

"I don't know, if we're going to be undercover, which between the two of us I think is damn near impossible, unless you have some amazing magical disguise," Dante laughed and shook his head "depends on how fast we start setting off alarms, cause once we do, I can't imagine we'll be staying long…"

"Fair point, I'd love a good fight but something on a massive scale… in the middle of a city… that's never fun." The half devil said, tossing several pairs of pants into another duffle, a couple shirts joined it and then tools to clean his guns and a toothbrush and a bottle of shampoo. He tucked the edges of everything into the bag and then zipped it shut. He looked expectantly at Nero who was still carefully tucking everything into his own bag

"I've told you, packing so neatly takes too long." Nero shot him a glare and continued his pace, even slower now. Dante groaned and fell back on the bed, only to wince at the crusty feeling of the sheets.

"We need to wash those before we leave." The partial devil remarked casually, then an evil grin crossed his face "And since you're already done packing, you can get them started." Dante groaned and hung his head

"Fine. You win. This time…" he collected the sheets and disappeared for a several minutes. Nero heard him go down and start the washer then walk back up into the kitchen, the creaky floors helping to map the other man's position. The partial devil finished up his own packing and then strolled downstairs as the smell of bacon greeted his nose. He smiled, tossing his bag by the door and joining the other man just as he was about to plate the food.

"Ah, ah, ahh…" Dante held the plate up in the air, Nero could reach it but it was the idea that mattered "I demand payment." The half devil pursed his lips and Nero smirked before blowing a raspberry right into them. Dante pouted but handed over the food.

"I love you." Nero reminded him as he started scarfing down food like a starving man

"You're just saying that cause I'm feeding you." Dante joked as he sat back at his desk. Nero didn't deny this statement, just shrugged his shoulders and continued eating.

The two boys finished breakfast and then went upstairs to wash up, ridding themselves of the grime and evidence of last night, though there may have been a pause or two in the washing as they locked lips ground themselves together. Finally though, the pair was ready to hit the road, Dante mentally checked the wards one more time before he nodded and they clicked the lights off, walking out into the late afternoon sun to the car.

"You ready?"

"Never will be." Nero sighed and they started off down the road.

A/N: And here we go into some of the events of DMC4 except some things have already happened and it'll be different because Nero won't be chasing Dante around the map for half of the game this time. Anyway, I have a lot of projects to work on and studying to do so…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	13. I Got It

A/N: Hey everyone… so it's been a bit… I've just been continuing into my last semester at school/ being really lazy so I'll quit that now :p and give you guys a chapter. I need some relaxing times, work was exhausting today, got a speeding ticket yesterday, y'know, the usual shitty stuff that just makes you cranky… anywho, I've got pocky, a glass of wine and a chapter to write. I'll just get on with that now :p

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

I Got It

Car rides… Nero decided… suck balls… no matter who you were with, the cramped feeling, the miles and miles of endless fields… they were boring. He and Dante had run out of things to say and were instead listening to the radio once more. Nero blinked back to attention and noticed that the radio had switched to more static fuzz than music again. He sighed and began fiddling with the nob. Dante shook his head and looked over at him, seeming to just be coming out of a long trance.

"Radio cut out again?" he asked, Nero smiled

"That zoned out?"

"Y'know, I like driving…"

"There nothing out here though, I get it, I was just thinking the same thing. I think we only have about a half an hour left though." He stretched out as best he could in the passenger seat and Dante eyed him jealously.

"You're totally driving on the way home." He said and Nero groaned

"Come on, driving back from missions is always worse than driving there. We're usually both covered in gunk and crud and gods know what else." The partial devil looked at the steely blue eyes of his partner and simply sighed

"Fine, you owe me for it though." He said, Dante grinned

"Hey, it's no party for anyone in the car after a mission though, just because you're driving doesn't mean that the passenger is exempt from goop and stuff." Nero snorted

"That should be our new tag line: We turn nasty things into goop and stuff." Dante laughed and slowed down to a more reasonable speed as the first building that they'd seen in hours came into view. They both fell into silence, watching the view once more. Though now Nero was more than a little bit nervous, he hadn't been back to his hometown since he and Dante had fled a couple years ago now. The last time his hometown had seen him he had been swept away by another devil, carried off into the air. Credo had been killed… that thought still pained him, though not as much as it used to, Kyrie likely still hated him. He hadn't seen or heard from her since the event, not that she knew how to get ahold of him but he knew that she could hold one hell of a grudge. He sighed, staring at the buildings that were becoming more and more prominent in the scenery, they'd be reaching the port very soon...

Dante on the other hand, was watching his lover from the corner of his eye, glancing over when he could. The other hunter seemed distressed, not that Dante could blame him, his parting from the town had been anything but easy and kind. He was going to be surprised if they didn't have to sneak onto the ferry just because the ferryman had heard of them and didn't want to instigate things further. Nero seemed to grow more and more nervous the farther into town they drove, they still had about an hour before the last ferry of the night sailed off so the half devil pulled into a small diner and parked the car. Nero finally pulled out of his thoughts and looked up at him.

"What're you doing, I thought we were going to the port?" He tilted his head to read the sign on the front of the building

"We still have about an hour, I thought we could grab a bite to eat before we go investigate your old stomping grounds."

"'m not hungry…" the partial devil mumbled, making no motion to get out of the car.

"Sure you are, you just don't know it yet." Dante grinned, slugging him lightly on the shoulder "A good meal before a mission is a good thing, remember how long we had to go without eating on Mallet Island?" He asked, not really caring one way or the other if the partial devil remembered, or even agreed, he just knew that he had to get Nero's mind off of the path that it was headed down. He knew that the other hunter would stew on things for days if given the chance and that would not be helpful for them once they hit the city, he knew that he himself would have done the same after Temen-ni-Gru if not for going to Fortuna in the first place and meeting Nero. Said partial devil shrugged and Dante sighed, stepping out of the car and walking around before practically _dragging_ the other hunter into the diner. He sat them down at a booth and slapped a menu in front of his partner.

"Order something." He said, Nero eyed him warily, still rubbing his ear and looking more than a little annoyed. That was fine, better annoyed than brooding.

"That was uncalled for." The partial devil grumbled but he picked up the menu and looked at it. Moments later he seemed to have picked something and set it back down, Dante already knew what he wanted and just watched his lover carefully

"You going to be all with me during the mission?" Nero blinked and looked at him

"Of course, why-"

"Because I can't have you moping around, we need to go in, figure out what's going on, stop it if need be, and then get the fuck out. Got it?" Nero took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, Dante could see the flash of the spitfire that he relied on back in them.

"I got it."

A/N: Not a super crazy chapter but I needed to get back into their heads before jumping into some action, anywho,

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	14. You're Under Arrest!

A/N: Alrighty, we're gonna see if I can remember how I usually do this whole typing on my iPad thing... By which I mean remembering to hit the save button before I exit the webpage so I don't lose all of my information again... It's only Monday and I'm already super duper tired... That could be that I went into work at 5:45 instead of 6 but I had a quiz so... It was also super busy at work...

Disclaimer: work work work work

You're Under Arrest!

Both of the hunters were more than a little surprised when the ferry driver didn't blink twice at them, clearly the man didn't get paid enough to bother caring who was getting on the boat as long as they had a ticket. Nero had also thought a bit ahead and brought hoods that looked enough like the ones in Fortuna that they actually blended in for once in the area. The ferry ride was long and had few passengers, all of whom spoke in hushed whispers, it made Dante's skin crawl, made it seem like it would've been easier to swim to the island.

"Clever idea." He whispered to Nero, the other hunter looked at him, slightly confused "The disguises." The half devil elaborated, Nero smiled, his teeth barely visible from beneath the hood.

"I knew we'd stick out like sore thumbs otherwise, the only people who don't wear hoods are kids and people of importance, it's easier to find out what we need to fix if we can go unnoticed for a longer period of time." Dante nodded, it made sense but it wasn't something that he wouldn't have thought of. Nero seemed to know this and nudged him gently

"I got you, don't worry, I'm here." Dante squeezed the partial devil's fingers

"And I'm here for you, no matter what."

-Time Slip-

It was late when they arrived in the city proper and the two checked out a room in the single hotel that stood proudly in the center of the city. Once in the room the pair both yanked their respective hoods off. Nero sarted giggling almost immediately, Dante turned to him with a scowl

"What?" He demanded, hands on his hips, halfway changed out of his civilian clothes

"You have such a hat head!" Nero pointed, Dante frowned and ruffled his hair.

"So do you." He grumbled, and Nero continued laughing as he fixed his own hair

"I know, why do you think I quit wearing a hood?"

"Because it interferes with your vision and you can't fight with one, I didn't think it was because you're so vain." Nero promptly threw his shirt at his partner, who just laughed as he dodged it and threw clothes back. The two quickly degraded into a little quarrel, clothes flying back and forth across the room. They both laughed heartily when they finally settled down, changing into their full hunting gear and preparing to sneak around the town. Dante paused when Nero opened a window

"What're you doing?" The half devil asked as Nero stepped one foot out.

"There's a curfew, weren't you even listening when the manager handed you the key? We can't exactly just walk out the front door, there'll be guards wandering around outside." Dante shrugged and followed the partial devil out the window and dropped smoothly from the second story down to the ground.

"Where to?" The half devil said when he stood to his full height. Nero looked down at his arm and flexed his glowing fingers.

"My best bet would be to start at the main cathedral, and then head to the headquarters of the Order. If something truly is going on then it's pretty likely that it'll be centralized in one of those two places." Dante nodded and gestured for the other hunter to take the lead. Nero smirked and leapt up onto a rooftop, starting off into the distance.

It didn't take too long for the pair to reach the cathedral, Nero's arm was going ballistic by the time they got there as well, which was a good sign that they were on the right track, both of them sat on the roof, looking in, watching the guards pace back and forth for what seemed like ages. Nero slipped down to a lower part of the roof and pushed on the window, thanking his luck when it slid inward smoothly.

"Nero?" Dante turned when he realized that his partner wasn't next to him only to see him slip downward into the room. "Nero!" He hissed, afraid to make too much noise. It was too late though, he turned back to the larger window and watched the partial devil land almost silently on the cathedral floor.

Nero let out a quiet sigh when nobody turned to the soft paff sound of him landing on the carpet. He just had to get to... Every muscle in his body went stiff when the light hit his vision and he heard a voice call

"Who goes there?" Nero turned to face the light, he hadn't seen the third guard... He put up a hand to block the flashlight from directly blinding him. The guard lowered it with a gasp

"Nero?" The partial devil blinked a couple times and realized that he vaguely recognized the man holding the light, he'd trained with the man but couldn't remember his name for the life of him. The man seemed to get over his shock and raised his sword

"You're under arrest for the murder of a commanding officer!" A secondary plan forming as the man shouted, Nero put his hands up in the air. Looking up to the roof and meeting Dante's eyes as the half devil was leaning into the window, he shook his head subtly and smirked as the flashlights followed his gaze only to see an empty ledge.

A/N: Things are getting exciting :)

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	15. I Suppose

A/N: All right, all right, I'm gonna stop procrastinating tonight and get done with this, maybe after I finish this one I'll pour myself a glass of wine and finish up with fanfiction for the week, and its only Monday! So woot for that!

Disclaimer: I own some wine right now?

I Suppose

Dante paced on the streets outside, what on earth was he supposed to do? The partial devil just had to go and get himself captured didn't he? He grumbled and paced the strip of cobbled streets once again, cursing himself for not stopping the other hunter while he still could've. The sounds of boots caused his head to snap up and he darted onto the rooftops and watched the patrol walk by, their laps lit brightly and their words loud and jovial. He waited till they were out of sight and then leapt down onto the street again, he supposed there was nothing else to do except go out and check the other places that Nero had suggested, although the cathedral was definitely the center for something, he'd come back in the morning…

-Time Slip-

Nero didn't remember being knocked out but he came to in a cage, an honest to god cage. He blinked blearily and rubbed his eyes, sitting upright only to find that there was going to be no standing up.

"Hey guys?" he called "I think you ordered the wrong size dog crate, I'm most certainly an extra large mutt." There was no response from down the hall and the partial devil huffed, leaning back on the bars and hoping that someone would come down and start talking, he wanted to know what was going on here. He looked around, hoping to pick up some clues. The entire room was lined with crates of varying sizes and the half devil tilted his head, that was odd, had they just stuffed him in a storage closet? It was dark in the room, not that that was any sort of hindrance to him but it was a good thing to note. Now that he wasn't shouting down the hall either he noticed scrufflings and the sounds of breathing around in the different cages. He closed his eyes to focus further, once he did he noticed the tiny amounts of flaring up his arm was doing. Okay, so whatever was in this room was at least slightly demonic… it faded and with it the sounds of breathing. The partial devil sighed, so whatever it was had just died… that didn't help him figure out what was going on anymore…

Minutes passed with nothing happening and then footsteps could be heard coming down stairs and a light clicked on in the room, Nero continued to pretend to be asleep, at least until there was a clatter right in front of him. He opened his eyes slowly, hoping that he was at least partially imitating Dante's irritating glance up from not quite sleeping. A couple of scientists of the Order stood outside, one of them frantically picking up notes from the floor.

"So is this room service?" he asked with a smirk, the scientists just looked baffled by his statement.

"Y-you're supposed to come with us…" one of them stammered and Nero raised a brow.

"What if I don't want to? I mean, you've provided such nice accommodations for me…" the sarcasm was simply _dripping_ off his statement but the scientist just shuffled, more than a little uncomfortable. Nero grinned, he had them right where he wanted them, he sighed dramatically

"I suppose if you _must_." He held his wrists through the bars. He could've easily just fought them off, though when he stuck his hands through he felt the buzz of a ward in the back of his head, so busting the crate would've been a no go… right now though… he wanted them to lead him through the facility, he didn't want to be trying to fight his way through, that was no fun at all… Well it was but it wasn't conducive to their plan to find out what was going on here.

The scientist clicked handcuffs around his wrists with shaking hands, visibly jolting when the partial devil's demonic skin flared at the feel of the ward wrapped into the metal cuff. When they opened the crate he stepped out smoothly, stretching as best he could and lightly testing the cuffs, the ward sent shifts of discomfort through his mind. Hmm…

-Time Slip-

Dante was about ready to have a conniption, there had been the feeling of activity at the other sites as well and Nero was still nowhere to be found. His blood was itching for him to take off and let go of all restraints and rip the entire town upside down. There was a commotion at the cathedral and the restless half devil made his way there, sticking to the rooftops to keep out of sight. Once he got there and saw the gathered crowd through the roof he began to get worried, the cathedral was packed to the very brim, it looked like people from every bit of town were there… He took a deep breath and tried to calm his worry, Nero was a big boy, he could take care of himself. He saw an elderly man who must've been the head priest, he couldn't hear what the man was saying but when he saw them bring Nero onto the stage, cuffed and a little scruffy but otherwise unharmed, he didn't need to. Feeling the surge of demonic energy from the priest was more than enough motive for him and he put one bullet through the glass before leaping in like an angel of death from above.

A/N: I couldn't help but set up for that scene again, it's just too good of a scene, I love the way there's no explanation, just Dante shows up and shoots the man. Too bad that was some of my first DMC stuff or I'd have been wondering why Dante was suddenly a bad guy XD

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	16. Let's Find Out

A/N: Alrighty, going at it again from my iPad in the middle of the cafe at Parkview... Jeez Monday's are busy for me... So I'll just relax a little bit and type up some fanfiction, looking forward to this chapter, though I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with it... Oh well!

Disclaimer: How bout the fact that I have an exam this week? Does that provide proof enough?

Let's Find Out

Nero's head shot up when he heard the glass shatter and he had to smirk to himself at the sight of Dante, coat flaring about him, glass reflecting the morning sun, so much for their cover... But he did have to say, the man knew how to make an entrance. He slammed into the alter with a bang and met eyes with Sanctus for all of a half a second before pulling out Ivory and blasting the man straight in the face. Nero winced as the spatter of blood hit his face, the taste confirming his previous suspicions of the man having changed himself into a demon. He sighed and looked at his partner just as all hell broke loose. Civilians screamed, guards shouted, people scattered everywhere.

"'morning." Dante greeted his partner, as though this were just another lazy Sunday afternoon and not the sudden murder of a religious figure. Nero rolled his eyes

"Morning, you mind getting me out of these?" He lifted the cuffs on his wrists and the half devil gave him a look

"I don't know, maybe I like them right were they are." He wiggled his eyebrows and easily dispatched a guard that had begun the charge past the quickly fleeing civilians. Nero growled at him and he laughed "All right, all right..." The partial devil held out his arms and there was a massive _crack_ sound as Rebellion cleaved straight through the warded metal. Nero rolled his shoulders, nimbly dodging out of the way of some almost buffoonish guards and ending up back to back with his partner.

"You let them take your weapon too?" Dante practically whined, Nero scoffed

"Better mine than yours, mine's got demonic energy sure, but it's no devil arm. Besides, I'm never completely unarmed..." He smirked and his demonic arm flared, Ifrit materializing around his fists. Dante grinned

"Yeah baby, let's do this!" The pair whirled into action, though the guards proved to be of little difficulty as they mowed through their ranks. By the time they finished, both were panting from the sheer number that come for them, it was like there was no end to the poor saps.

"Well that was disappointing..." Nero managed, his demonic arm reabsorbing Ifrit and his breath returning to normal.

"You're telling me." Dante said, kneeling and poking the helmet off of one of the guards, a demonic visage greeted him, just as he expected, so they had turned themselves into the most basic of cannon fodder. For a moment he pitied them and wondered if they had known what they were getting themselves into.

"So... There goes our low profile." Nero laughed, flopping back into one of the now empty pews and beginning to pick some of the gore from under his nails. Dante joined in, nudging the partial devil to the side and sitting next to him.

"What now...?" He asked and Nero turned to look at him and then to the last place they had seen the corpse of Sanctus. It was empty. He gestured lazily to Dante and the half devil swore.

"I think we should go after him, or his body, whichever is left, I think we should start with the other places that could have been demonic hotspots, did you check them out last night?" Dante nodded

"Definitely active, they all were, so I guess we go to whichever one's closer." Nero nodded,

"That'd be Fortuna Castle, but we have to go through the abandoned part of town to get there."

"So? You afraid of a few ghosts?" Dante teased, Nero flushed

"No, the place just used to give me the heeby-jeebies..." The partial devil shivered and looked off to the door "We should probably get out of here before more of the cannon fodder shows up." He said with a sigh, the half devil agreed, rising to his feet and helping the other man up.

"Fortuna Castle?" Nero nodded

"Fortuna Castle."

-Time Slip-

The pair weren't expecting to have to fight their way through the streets but that much became obvious when they took one step outside the door. Demons clogged the streets, screeching and calling to one another. Much to the pairs' surprise, most of them were not even recognizable creatures.

"You seen any of these things before?" Nero asked, hoping that he just hadn't been around enough

"You kidding me, this is your hometown, if anything, you should recognize these schmucks." The partial devil shook his head, his Devil Bringer flaring bright again and materializing into the fiery gauntlets.

"Well let's find out how easy they go down." He took a fighting stance and darted forward, Dante followed him, laughing as he swung his sword, they met eyes for a minute in between strikes and Dante threw him a wink, Nero rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out. Everything felt as it should for that brief moment in time, little did the pair know, they were about to run headlong into something that neither of them could have ever imagined.

Brown eyes watched the exchange and narrowed. For a brief moment they remembered the time when the fighting and gore would have made them squeamish, but those times were long over. Now, now was the time for revenge...

A/N: Ohhhhhhhhh! Cliffhangers are back! Woot woot! I love these things XD Please don't shoot me... I love you guys.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	17. I Just Might Have To

A/N: Damn... I was really hoping to make this chapter spicy... But I don't think I'm going to be able to lead into that this chapter... Poo. Well here we go.

Disclaimer: Own this just as much as I own the song I'm listening to.

I Just Might Have To

The mines still creeped Nero out, there was just nothing that he could do about that. He didn't think that that childish fear would ever wear off, it was something about the musty smell and the demons that kind of popped out of no where that just unnerved him. Dante of course gave him shit and the partial devil sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm sure that there's stuff that still creeps you out too, so you can shut your mouth about how I get bothered by some old mines." Nero grumbled, Dante just laughed

"Oh there most certainly is and I fully expect you to give me shit back when you find out what it is, but until then..." He grinned and then Ivory snapped up and took out a demon that was farther up the wall. Nero turned and shivered before taking a deep breath and reaching out with his demonic arm to grab the ladder that had broken off farther up the wall

"Hey, a little help?" Dante called from the floor, Nero turned and smirked at him before taking the next leap. "Hey!" The partial devil flung his arm forward, the projection wrapping around the hunter in red, who let out a rather unmanly squeak of surprise and was yanked back up to where his partner stood, grinning like a cat who'd gotten the canary. "Ass." The half devil muttered, Nero just snickered to himself.

-Time Slip-

The last thing the two expected to see when they walked into the old abandoned town was a massive centaur-like demon with enough fire for the world's largest cookout. Nero looked to his partner

"Don't suppose you brought Cerberus?" Dante grinned at him

"I might've left most of my stuff at home since missions like these tend to generate enough loot on their own?"

"Dude, you have an interdimensional pocket around you that you stuff all your weapons into and you're worried about carrying too many?" Dante just grinned again and Nero groaned

"Hey, you don't have most of your weapons either." Dante ribbed and the partial devil just sighed, trying to contain his irritation

"That's because I was held captive and had them taken away from me."

"And who's fault is that?" Dante's question trailed off as they both looked up to see the massive demon staring at them. It seemed confused that they weren't even remotely impressed with it.

"Who dares impede Berial? King of the fire hell!" He roared

"Actually, first names are just fine." Smirked Nero, rolling forward and feeling the heat roll off of the massive sword behind him. He turned to see Dante holding the sword up, acting casual despite the fact that the partial devil could see his partner's hand burning.

"I mean, you interrupted us dude, you could've at least let us finish our conversation before getting your ass kicked." The beast roared in anger, waves of fire rolling off of him.

"Nero!" Dante shouted, realizing that his partner was under the monster, putting him right in the way. The flames subsided and the partial devil stood, patting out some of the small fires on his coat.

"Alright, I get it, you like fire." Ifrit leapt to life around his fists "But guess what? So do I." He leapt right into a stiff uppercut, the strength of it impressing the half devil as the monster stumbled back from the strike. Dante grinned and dove into the fray after his lover.

-Time Slip-

The fight didn't take long after that, the fire was hot but typically brief and the boys healed far too quickly for it to do much permanent damage. When the monster tried to flee back through the Hellgate he was quickly snatched by Nero and dispatched by Dante. The two looked at the cooling Hellgate and then to the weapon floating unformed next to it. Dante raised a brow and and lifted a hand and the weapon floated into his hand, forming around his body. The mask lifted up and he grinned, leaping into the air and launching a barrage of attacks against the stone. Nero could hear his lewd innuendoes the entire time he did and groaned, they were just bad... the half devil landed, the heart outlined by the spikes from the weapon.

"In the end, we are all satisfied." Said Dante from an unexplained rose in his mouth, clapping his hands as the spikes exploded "And you are set free." He tossed the rose at the last spike, splitting the heart perfectly down the middle. Nero rolled his eyes

"You are so weird." He muttered, shaking his head at his partner's antics

"And yet you still sleep with me, what does that say about you?" Dante smirked Nero sighed

"Gods only know." Then he smiled at the half devil who smirked back and pulled out another rose, handing it the other hunter. Nero blinked

"Where are you getting these from?" He asked, taking it and inspecting it, he looked up to find Dante looking into his eyes

"You're welcome to search me for them." The half devil said with a burning look, Nero laughed, closing the gap between them and looping an arm around his lover's waist.

"I just might have to do that."

A/N: Okay so next chapter's going to be awfully interesting ;) I'm looking forward to writing it, also, my hands are ice cubes and I'm having difficulty typing...

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	18. I Needed That

A/N: This feels kind of awkward... I'm typing in the middle of the break room at work... Granted I eat lunch really early on Mondays so there's only like one other person in here but still... It just feels strange to be typing in here.

Dislaimer: The following spicy-ness is certainly not what CAPCOM had in mind and I am not them so...

The hunters crashed together with a ferocity that would make many a demon jealous, teeth nipped and tongues slid in a sensuous dance that was quickly followed by their bodies. The duo ground and bucked against one another as though their lives depended on it. At one point Nero pushed a little too far forward and they went sprawling to the ground, dirt and dust flinging up around them. The partial devil laughed against his partner's lips and continued kissing him, his hips rutting against the half devil's with a steady rhythm.

"You a bit eager?" Dante laughed breathily, tilting his head back to drink in the attention from Nero's tongue and teeth. The hunter looked up at him with eyes that flashed bright red for a second.

"How on earth could you tell?" He asked, rubbing his hips forward so that the other man could feel his erection against his own. Dante grinned

"Lucky guess I suppose." He flipped them over "Good thing I am too." He said as he bucked against the other male. Nero bit his lip, trying to hold back the low groan that threatened to slip from his lips. His undulated beneath his partner, it really hadn't been that long but it felt long enough since their last encounter for the pair, he wanted to make this last, he needed the release, he couldn't make up his mind.

"Gods Dante..." he sighed as the half devil worked a hand up underneath his shirt. The other man just chuckled and worked his mouth after his hands and Nero was sure that he was in heaven now... Dante found himself having just as much fun as his lover, the partial needed to unwind a bit, he could practically _feel_ it and it was driving him crazy. He was fairly certain that it was a byproduct of being back in this city, all those years ago when he'd met Nero here the other hunter was about to lose his mind from the lack of opportunity to _do_ anything, not that the other partial devil had been aware of it. It was something that Dante had gotten good in seeing in others as he was often wound tighter than a spring himself.

"Feel good?" he laughed after a particularly loud groan worked its way from Nero's mouth. The partial devil blushed slightly and turned his head, only to let out another as Dante bit at the area just above his hipbone. "Well?" he pressed, following the bite with a gentle kiss.

"Yes... jeez, self-conscious much?" the blue hunter smirked down at him and Dante smirked back

"No, I just like to hear you say it." the half devil palmed the bulge in front of him and Nero let his head drop to the dirt again with a loud groan. He bucked his hips up, hoping that Dante would open his pants soon cause the material of his boxers was really starting to grate on him. Almost as though he were reading his mind, the partial devil felt cool air on his swollen member as his jeans were unzipped and yanked down with his boxers in one smooth motion. Reddish eyes glinted up at him from between his knees, and not for the first time Nero thought of the irony of feeling grateful for capturing the affections of a devil. Dante licked up the shaft once before placing a rather gentle kiss on the tip. There was the tiniest pause and Nero felt himself twitch in anticipation and then the half devil wrapped his lips around his nearly leaking cock. A long tongue slid wetly down the shaft and the partial devil wrapped his hands in his lover's hair, trying to keep himself still with a small thrust breaking through his control. He felt the rumble of Dante's chuckle along the length and he gasped at the feeling.

"Dante..." he said in mild warning, he wanted to drag this out, he didn't want this to be over too soon. The red hunter pulled back with a wet pop, his lips swollen and eyes twinkling with mild humor. He crawled back up his lover and kissed him slowly before pulling up for a moment.

"You wanna top or you want me to?" Nero shed his jacket as he sat up and rolled onto all fours

"Go for it." his sharp ears caught the sound of Dante groaning slightly and reaching into one of the many pockets of his coat for the lube that they made sure to carry at all times now. Dante shimmied out of his pants and lathered himself up. Both of them held their breath as the half devil paused at his lover's entrance, their breath filling the air as Dante pushed forward gently, stretching the partial devil painfully slowly. Nero wanted to just push himself backward but waited, trying his patience as Dante would eventually pick up the pace. The half devil had pushed all the way inside now and just sat for a moment, both of them relishing in the connection. It was Nero who broke first, pulling back to have Dante buck forward, filling him again, and again... their pace began to increase until all either of them could hear was the slap of skin on skin and their own groans and growls. Nero reached down, intent of finishing himself off, but Dante's hand beat him to it, the other man must be close too... The partial devil cried out first and his muscles spasmed around the red hunter's member, pulling him after with a shout of his own. The pair rode out the aftershocks and collapsed, narrowly avoiding the mess they'd made.

"I needed that." sighed Nero to his partner, holding him close.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	19. You've Got Plenty

A/N: Here I go, typing in the break room again... Well at least it's relatively quiet in here... Anywho I'll see if I can pick up after the deliciousness that was last chapter...

Disclaimer: Seeing as Dante and Nero aren't actually lovers, I don't think that I own this.

You've Got Plenty

The pair picked themselves up and cleaned up as best they could after a quick rest. Nero was just glad that he'd taken his pants off in the midst of their frantic lovemaking so that they'd avoided any... Well we'll say splash damage. Or maybe it'd been Dante who'd yanked them off, the partial devil shrugged, it didn't matter either way, he was just happy to be able to go into their next battle not covered in the evidence of their tryst. Dante heaved a massive sigh as he clipped Rebellion onto his back.

"I feel so much better now, killed a big-ass fire demon, had a good fuck, gimme a pizza and a sundae and I could die a happy man." Nero rolled his eyes

"I doubt you could rest easy when there's a crazy cult trying to take over the world." The partial devil said as they headed out of the ghost town and toward Fortuna castle.

"I suppose you've got a point, damn my hero complex." The half devil said mockingly, shaking his head, Nero laughed, shoving his shoulder before slogging his way up the rest of the hill. When they both passed into the chasm they froze. Dante looked to his partner and then back to the scene before them.

"Please tell me the crazy snow is normal and that there's a nice cabin with hot chocolate waiting on the other side of this for us?" He said slowly, taking in the blizzard that raged before them. Nero gave a humorless laugh.

"I wish that was the case. I'd never seen snow until I moved into Devil May Cry." Dante cursed under his breath and pulled his sword out and held it at the ready. Nero sighed and stalked forward slowly as well, his arm sparking with blinding blue light. The pulses told him that _something_ was nearby but he had no idea what or where, at least until there was the sound of crackling ice and a flash of movement from the corner of his eye. He rolled forward and felt the wind of something swiping right where he'd been moments before. The partial devil didn't think, he just reached with his demonic arm, snagging something, a leg, a tail, it didn't matter, he had it. He swung the beast around his head several times, hearing the sounds of Ebony and Ivory ring out in the snowy arena and flung the demon in the general direction of the splats that soon followed the gunshots. There was a screech and the two hunters came together as they watched the pair of demons try and disentangle themselves.

"Nice throw man, you ever seen these before?" Nero shook his head

"No, and thanks, though your gunfire provided a nice target." There was a flurry of ice and the demons were back on them, slashing and screeching. Though Nero's was pretty well beaten down and he finished it off in a quick succession of moves. He looked over and saw Dante roll back, taking a few pot shots. The partial devil grinned and reached forward once more, snagging the monster's back leg. He yanked back yelling

"Batter up!" Before launching the poor demon forward. Dante grinned, Rebellion unsheathed in a blink of an eye and took a stance, cleaving the devil into two steaming piles on the ground.

"I'd say that's a home run, how bout you?" the half devil smirked, shaking the gore from the blade. Nero scoffed

"I think a home run entails actually moving the ball, I think that's a strikeout." Dante pretended to be hurt and the two started laughing before continuing up the small mountain to the castle.

-Time Slip-

Once inside the castle the two paused, Nero hadn't been in this place in a long time, even when he'd been a resident of Fortuna, it'd been a rare occasion that he needed to visit the castle, it was mostly held for the head priests and captains of the guard and the few of the ruling class of Fortuna. But this... he was sure that he hadn't seen some sort of barrier surrounding the upper floor last time he'd been here...

"Take it that's not normal either?" Dante sighed, Nero nodded and the two set off to work. It didn't take much for either of them to work around the puzzle and the low level demons that were scattered throughout the halls. Neither were expecting the magic suit of armor to come to life but it didn't pose a problem either way. Nero leaned back on one of the chairs after the monster collapsed with a scattering of light.

"Is it just me or are most of the demons we're facing here just... odd?" he asked, Dante nodded.

"No, you're right, I haven't seen a single thing that I've recognized and for neither of us to have seen these things before..."

"They feel unnatural." said Nero, rubbing his arm, the feeling had been bugging him since they'd set foot back on the island.

"It's entirely possible that they aren't." Dante said, falling back into a nearby chair, grinning softly at his partner. "You're the one with more than one way to sense demons."

"Hey I've gotta have a leg up somewhere." the partial devil teased, sticking his tongue out at the other male who just laughed.

"You've got plenty."

A/N: I don't wanna do homework after this but... I've got an exam and a report to do... sighs... welp at least this was fun?

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	20. After You

A/N: Same old, same old Monday, sitting in the break room for lunch, typing while eating, y'know, the usual ;p Anywho, I'll just get on with this and then hopefully, have less work to do when I get home. That's the hope anyway...

Disclaimer: Idk what to put for these anymore...

After You

They reached the library after much wandering, both of them tired and more than a little bit grouchy. Dante huffed when they walked into the room, eyeing over some of the titles. More of them were in foreign languages than he anticipated, he looked to his partner.

"Can you read some of these? I mean, I know a lot of them but some of these are even beyond me." He gestured to the rows and rows of books. Nero looked over at them and heaved a sigh

"No, not all of them, some of them are encoded on top of being in some dead or demonic language." He looked at his lover again "Y'know, looking at you, I'd never think that you spoke more than one language." Dante made a face

"What's that supposed to mean?" He huffed, putting back one of the tomes he'd snagged to leaf through. Most of it had been crazy stuff about his old man, stuff that the half devil was sure wasn't true.

"It means that you look like a goof." The partial devil winked. Dante pouted slightly

"And here I thought that you were going to tell me that I looked too badass." Nero rolled his eyes and then paused, taking in the suit of armor that had joined the room.

"Can I help you?" He asked, fairly certain that this would lead to a fight, he and Dante were wanted but the question was, was this guy going to gun right for them or... His thought was cut off as he blocked a charge from the armor with his demonic arm.

"I take that as a no." He said, leaping back as Dante slammed Rebellion into the man's armor, it dented around the sword and Nero took out Ifrit, the flames leaping up around his wrists. He pounded punch after punch into the man but he seemed to give no reaction to the beating, not even an 'oof'.

"Nero, duck!" He heard Dante shout and he did, reacting without even thinking about it. The crack of Ebony resounding above his head and the armor fell over, the helmet clattering to the floor, revealing the empty inside of the suit. The duo just started at it, Nero nudged it with a toe

"What the hell?" He muttered, half expecting the damn thing to get up again like some of the demons they'd faced in the past.

"It's like it was possessed..." Dante said, looking at his gun, Nero looked back at him

"Please tell me that was a charge shot."

"Of course, why?"

"Becuase I want to be sure this thing isn't going to be getting up again."

"I don't think so, you saw the lights float off when we downed it?"

"Yeah?"

"I think that's what was powering it." The half devil said, looking again at the clutter of papers and books scattered on the tables. A good many of them mentioned possession and summoning. The red hunter did not have a good feeling about this... When he looked up again, Nero had wandered over to what looked like a lantern but held a singular blue flame in it instead of a wick or lightbulb. He was just about to say something when Nero picked it up, his hand glowing brighter and the object swiftly disappearing. He looked at his arm surprised for a moment before looking back to Dante. The half devil sighed and shook his head

"You have got to stop grabbing things with your demon arm." He said, Nero just flexed his fingers

"It just keeps hold of demonic items for me, I can pull them out whenever I want." He said, looking over to the strange statue that sat in the corner of the room and then to the blocked doorway.

"You sound like a drug addict when you put it that way." The half devil laughed, the sound cutting off halfway when Nero swiped at the statue and the thing _moved_. He nearly choked on his own spit and just managed to sputter

"What did you just do?!"

"I brought it to life. Well sorta anyway." He charged up Ifrit, gears turning in his head as he studied the pointed spikes that stuck out from the statue. He struck with the gauntlets and the spikes started turning rapidly, he walked around, looked at the barrier again and then lashed out with his demonic arm, the whole statue flying forward and obliterating the barrier. He turned back to a flabbergasted Dante who just shook his head

"Never mind, it's cool, just keep picking up random things." Nero grinned and walked through the now cleared doorway, his partner following behind.

They quickly discovered that the statues made clearing long halls of demons very, very easy and quickly cleaned out most of the rest of the castle. They had just gotten access to a door that had been previously blocked and the pair looked between one another.

"How much do want to bet that there's a big ugly ass demon on the other side of this door?" Dante smirked, Nero laughed

"That's not even a fair bet! There's _definitely_ a big ugly ass demon on the other side." The two laughed and Dante held the door

"After you."

A/N: I'm sooooo tired right now, but it's my own damn fault cause I decided to watch Teen Titans: Judas Contract last night... instead of going right to bed... why am I so dumb guys? Please, I miss sleep... :p

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	21. Great We Get Crazies Too

A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's been a while, I just graduated, so I'm officially an engineer now! WOO! No more homework! Well at least until whatever company I work for is willing to pay for grad school but I'm at least going to take a year or so before that. Looking for a job is boring btdubs. I at least have my co-op to pay the bills until I find a big person job but still, I've been trying to put in extra hours to save some money for loans… boo…

Disclaimer: I still don't own Devil May Cry, despite having graduated…

Great, We Get Crazies Too

Nero wrinkled his nose at the smell that permeated the air the second they crossed into the harsh snowy winds that whipped outside. Dante sneezed and then both of them looked up to see a pair of glowing beckoning blue women, Nero looked at his partner in confusion.

"What's this?" he wondered out loud, flexing his claws but trying to remain passive, sometimes you could get out of an encounter without a fight. It didn't happen often but it was possible.

"I don't know… looks like we could have some fun…" the half devil wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner and Nero rolled his eyes. "Aww, c'mon, you're such a party pooper!" the half devil was met with a gaze that could've melted all the snow around them.

"You realize that means that I would have to share…" he said this softly but the half devil's sharp hearing still picked up on it. He felt his heart skip a beat for that one moment, even after years of being together and sharing one another's company he could still be made to feel like a kid again when the other man did something like that. The feeling only heightened when Nero leapt almost straight up into the air and landed on top of a toad-like monstrosity.

"I suppose we were right, there was a big ugly demon on the other side of the door." Nero grunted, shoving Ifrit through the monster's body. It yowled in pain and shook the younger man off.

"How did you know?!" it shouted, Nero just scoffed and Dante, finally shaken from his stupor laughed.

"There's no hiding a stink like that!" He said, yanking out his newest devil arm and giving it a whirl. He grinned like a small child when he was correct in his assumption that the spears would explode upon contact with a body, particularly one as large as this one. The monster was an easy target, although less so when Nero started swinging it around by one of its rather leggy floating lures. The line holding the lure snapped and the overgrown toad crashed into the wall, shouting out for its brethren. Dante silenced its cry before too long and turned to look back to Nero, who was looking at his arm curiously as the lure was absorbed into it.

"Okay, seriously, you've got to quit doing that, that was part of a demon, not a demon arm, a piece of corpse…"

"Yeah, I'll let you know as soon as I figure out how I keep doing it…" the partial devil grumbled and then looked to the portal slightly startled. Dante turned to see what his partner was looking at and sighed

"Shit…"

"Looks like we were both wrong, there wasn't _one_ big evil monster, there were a bunch…"

"Well it looks like we have work to do." Dante twirled his pistols and Nero crouched down, claws flexed and ready for the fight.

-Time Slip-

It was a rather long battle for the duo as neither had heavy artillery or the means to take out more than one of the monsters at once. More than a couple devil stars were cracked open in the process of trying to defeat the group. The battle finally came to a conclusion with both hunters in their Devil Trigger, hacking and slashing at the pile of them until they were good and truly gone from this world. They looked up to see the gate close and the pedestal next to it begin to glow with the light of unclaimed devil arm. Nero looked to his partner

"I told you, I took the last one, you get this one." the half devil said with a grin, Nero smirked back

"Damn straight." he reached forward, the devil arm floating over to him and taking the form of a briefcase. Nero frowned for a second before the thing transformed into a gun and the younger hunter laughed, firing wildly at the hellgate, whipping it around himself and throwing the now bladed weapon, he caught it and with a wink at his lover, transformed it into a large artillery weapons, destroying any remaining chunks of the hellgate. The weapon folded back into a briefcase and opened for a split second, light pouring out before Nero slammed it shut.

"Alright, now I'm jealous, also, that would've been extremely useful in that fight."

"Yeah no kidding." the partial devil laughed "But hey, at least I now have a gun until I can get Blue Rose back."

"That's a hell of an upgrade… what's its name?"

"Pandora." Nero said after a moment's hesitation, consulting the strange otherworldly presence in his mind that was the devil arm. He was still getting used to that, even after all this time, it still occasionally unsettled him when Ifrit spoke up in his mind, he hadn't grown up with devil arms as Dante had.

"Whoever is setting up these hellgates, or these falsified hellgates, more specifically, has collected quite a few powerful devil arms. Not just any old one can support a tear in the veil between the two realms." Nero nodded

"It's probably Agnus."

"Who?"

"One of the scientists from the Order. He was a real wacko, even back when I was still here, I can't imagine that he's gotten any better."

"Great, we get crazies too." Dante huffed

A/N: Sorry this is a bit boring, trying to get back in the swing of things.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	22. Nero?

A/N: Hey, two weeks in a row! Woot… I'm so tired right now but I should continue to be productive since my sheets are in the drier and won't be out for at least two hours… yeah so I might as well be typin huh? ;p

Disclaimer: Why do I still bother with these?

I'm a guest yay: Haha, I'm sorry, there'll be some of that coming up soon enough, I mean I haven't actually gotten a job yet, but I'm working on it! Thanks for the review!

Nero?!

The basement of the building smelled, neither of them could place the chemical stench but it stung at their noses and caused for both to cough as the smell clogged their lungs.

"What is that?" Dante hacked, waving the air in front of his face, Nero shrugged, looking for the way deeper into the laboratory, they'd found the entrance only after extensive exploration and a fair bit of luck.

"I don't know, all I can tell you is that the last time I was in here it didn't smell like this but that was… what three years ago now?" he said, thinking back on it and realizing that yes, in fact, it had been three years since he'd lived on the island. It seemed like a lifetime ago to him, the way that he lived with Dante now just felt so natural that living in fear and under the control of the Order seemed like a different time, a different person that it all had happened to. Up until a crazy foreigner had washed up on the beach. The partial devil smirked at the thought.

"What're you snickering about?" Dante asked, raising a brow as he followed the other hunter deeper into the laboratory.

"I'm just thinking, it seems like so long ago that I fished a crazy man in red leather out of the ocean. And to think! The crazy man didn't even have a shirt on!" Dante rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, make fun of me, but I seem to recall a stuck up knight who couldn't even admit that he was part demon." Now it was Nero's turn to roll his eyes

"Hey, I didn't know!"

"And I'm still amazed at that, huh, looks like we've got company." he gestured ahead of them to the bizarre looking creatures swimming through the floor as easily as if it were water. Nero sighed and prepped Ifrit as Dante pulled out his guns. "I mean, you had all the signs of being part devil and you just ignored them until your arm went all crazy…" he said as he took pot shots at the fins that jutted from the floor. Once one flinched above the surface of the floor Nero went for it, punching and kicking at it until it collapsed dead, blood pooling out and crystalizing into orbs.

"I didn't know that being stronger than other people and healing quickly meant that I wasn't human!" he snapped, the statement accentuated by a quick punch.

"I didn't have any demonic marking until I was a teenager but I knew I wasn't human, at least, not entirely."

" _You_ were also told when you were a kid."

"That's true." the red hunter shrugged, finishing off the last demon with a quick shot from Ebony. He looked over to his partner

"You know I'm just teasing right?" Nero blinked, pulled out of his thoughts, he'd been thinking that when he was younger he really _should_ have noticed that he wasn't entirely human, he'd just been so afraid to admit it…

"Yeah, I was just thinking that things have been so much better since I moved in with you. Since I accepted what I am, who I am."

"Since you found this sexy devil." the half devil teased, nudging his partner with a hip. Nero laughed

"Since I found a friend," he looked at the other "since I found love." Dante smiled at the other hunter and leaned over to peck him on the lips. That peck deepened quickly into a much longer kiss and both pulled away for air, pupils blown wide and breath pulled quickly through swollen lips.

"Damn, when we take down this asshole, I need at least a week of just you. In bed. No interruptions."

"I think we seem more like lovestruck teens than two grown men, y'know that?" the half devil said with a grin as he ran a hand through his partner's hair.

"I know, yet here we are." he looked to the doorway that had been cleared by the demons that they had just killed. He walked forward into the room and then stopped. This looked like a testing room, a big bay window in the front of the room.

"Shit." he cursed, gauging the reinforced glass. Dante peeked around the other male's shoulder to see what the fuss was all about.

"I agree." he grumbled, once this was said there was a startled squeak on the other side of the glass, transmitted over a loudspeaker so that the two hunters could hear it clearly. Nero looked to his partner and raised a brow. Dante just shrugged and then a hunched over, large man came into view, greasy dark hair falling into his face.

"Y-you! You escaped! You're here!" he stammered and Nero just sighed, his shoulders falling forward. Dante leaned over and whispered in the blue hunter's ear

"Is this the crazy guy?" Nero nodded

"Yeah." recently dubbed crazy guy just chuckled,

"Oh, how fortunate for me… the t-two of you… all mine! I thought that when you had escaped…!" Dante hefted Rebellion off his back and prepared for a fight, he knew that if they worked at it, the pair could get through the glass. "I hadn't the t-time to f-finish my experiments but very nearly… now… now I get to see my studies in action!" the room filled with gas and Nero started coughing. When it started to clear Dante just barely managed to dodge out the way of a punch.

"Nero?!" the partial devil gave no look of recognition, only a low growl as his eyes flickered to a bright red and cerulean flames licked off his Devil Bringer.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	23. What?

A/N: Hey guys, I know it's been a little while and I pretty much have zero excuse except for being lazy and getting caught up in Secret World Legends, which is a free MMO and I highly recommend it, you should all come join the Illuminati with me so we can outnumber my boyfriend who's part of the Templars :p

Disclaimer: Why do I even bother with these anymore…?

Dante backed up a step, and then another, and another, not sure what to do. Surely the other hunter would snap out of it… wouldn't he?

"Nero…?" he asked again and then ducked out of the way as the partial devil lunged at him. "Oi! Nero! Cut it out!" he bopped the other man on the head as he lunged by, only succeeding in pissing the partial devil off. "Shit…" he grumbled. In the background, he could hear the resident crazy scientist laughing.

"If only we had predicted that it would be this easy to gain control of you!" Dante growled, dodging once again out of the way of one of Nero's lunges. Whatever was controlling him was doing a piss poor job of it, the blue hunter was sloppy, lacking all of his usual finesse and instead just trying to opt for brute strength, which Dante had over him in spades. The problem was, how to break Nero out of it without damaging him too much. This measly little scientist couldn't be the worst of the problems that plagued Fortuna, he needed his partner to still be in one piece for the final fight. The half devil grinned then, an idea striking him. He dodged and evaded, wearing the other man down until Nero was panting, though whatever was controlling him didn't allow him to pause for breath. Nero howled, his eyes burning bright red as his Devil Trigger crawled across his body from his arm. Dante just smiled, this was what he'd been waiting for from the partial devil; he allowed his own Devil Trigger to slowly crawl across his skin, feeling each change as it passed over him. He could hear the scientist muttering lowly, apparently in awe of the two monsters before him. Dante just launched himself forward, tackling the slightly younger man to the ground.

Nero struggled in his grip, thrashing and snarling like a wild animal and Dante just huffed, if he was going to act strictly off of his instincts, so would Dante and the half devil was fairly certain he would win this contest. He roared at the devil beneath him, who just met his eye and snarled back. The half devil growled and after a brief struggled had his teeth at the younger man's throat. Nero froze, his body understanding that he only had two options, submit or die. Dante growled again, tightening his grip and feeling the edges of his incisors cut into the tough hide of the partial devil's neck. And then the body beneath him relaxed, not much but enough to alert the older devil that the other had submitted. He pulled his teeth away and looked at the partial devil, who still had no trace of recognition in his eyes. Dante huffed and kissed his cheek, much to the currently possessed Nero's dismay and then said

"I'm sorry about this in advance." before knocking the other hunter out cold and then supporting his body as he crumpled the rest of the way to the floor. Dante stood then, allowing the full front of his power out, the air crackling with electricity as it bounced between the plates of his hide and cut through the air to the edges of the glass and metal cage. The scientist who had appeared to be taking notes gave off an eep! and backed away from the window.

"You better let me out, or I'm going to bust through that window and it's going to get even uglier than it already has." the man smirked

"You cannot b-break it, it is made to withstand the strongest of devils." he sniffed proudly and Dante snarled, summoning Rebellion to his side and holding it behind him in a reversed grip, allowing his demonic energy to build up along the blade. He pulled Ebony from her holster and fired as he allowed his energy to charge up, firing off a couple shots that merely dinged the glass but did give him a point of reference along the surprisingly clean glass. He launched Rebellion then, the blade flinging forward with devastating force. The glass creaked and then then began to crack and Dante grinned, launching himself forward and into the cracking pane. It shattered. The scientist stumbled backward, shards of glass falling all around them. He shook his head.

"Meant to withstand the strongest devils my ass. That wasn't even my most powerful attack." he rolled his eyes and the scientist stammered

"But this is impossible…!"

"That's me, Mr. Impossible. But enough small talk." a gun was at the man's throat, and he squeaked again. "I want to know what you did to Nero."

"The boy is meant to be used in the final ascension of His Holiness." The man managed, sliding to the side nervously. Dante's gun followed him easily.

"What does that mean. Also have you seen him, he's not a boy anymore so if there's an age limit on this thing, you're flat out of luck." the scientist seemed confused by this statement and just blinked for a second.

"His Holiness means to ascend, to achieve the greatness once held only by our Savior." he said.

"What Savior?" Dante asked, trying to get answers from this guy was only raising more questions, he wished Nero was awake and aware, he'd know what this nutjob was getting at.

"I think it's high time our meeting came to a close." the man said and Dante had time to mutter

"What?" before there was Nero's Devil Bringer in his stomach.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	24. Then I'd Punch Him

A/N: Okay… so I know that I've been gone for a while and… I don't have a lot of excuses, other than that there's currently six people living in my apartment while we wait to transfer and it's hard to find time to myself to type. But other than that, I've just been lazy.

Disclaimer: I'm still too lazy.

Guest: I'm sorry… I've been lazy, I'm glad you like it though, thanks for the review!

Then I'd Punch Him

Dante grunted at the pain that leapt to his mind after a couple surprised seconds. Another second and the Devil Bringer was removed from his abdomen. He hissed in a breath between his teeth and a hand fell to the hole on instinct. It was far from a mortal wound for the half devil but it didn't make it any nice to experience. Distantly he could hear the scientist laughing and could clearly hear Nero growling behind him.

"As you can see, the control is nearly perfect." Dante spat out a glob of his own blood and then felt a pulse that he hadn't felt in a very long time… it was one that he'd grown up with, one that he was intimately familiar with seeing as his brother had stabbed him through with it. Yamato. The half devil growled again and focused his mind, barely reacting as the Devil Bringer pierced him again, the claws scraping against his ribcage. If he could just focus… Yamato's energy was fragmented and Dante huffed, trying to pull it anyway. Slowly… ever so slowly, the energy of the blade focused into the razor sharp edge that he was more accustomed to and the blade heeded his call, flying to his hand, his Trigger altering with a ripple of red sparks as he whirled and slashed at his partner, the blade cutting a clean, deep line in the other hunter's chest.

"What?! No!" He could hear the scientist in the background and he snarled, turning and lashing out again, the energy flying from the blade as he did and striking the slimy man directly in the chest. He squawked and flew backward but Dante was already on the move again, calling on the power in his blood and the power in the blade and summoning and handful of glowing swords and flinging them at his partner who was already oncoming again. The partial devil snarled angrily as he was secured to the wall behind him by his shoulder, leg and wrist. Nero growled and immediately started trying to pull off of the blades, pushing and hissing in pain as the blades caused further damage with his struggling.

"Nero. Stop." the half devil said, his breath coming a little quicker now as his body had spent much of its energy trying to patch the holes in itself. Nero just squirmed harder. Dante huffed and shoved forward, his hand latching around Nero's throat as he snarled at the young man. Whatever was controlling Nero just had him running off of instinct and it certainly wasn't the scientist… he could hear the man groaning, still alive then… Dante dug his claws into Nero's throat, even as a clawed hand scrabbled at his face and shoulder. The half devil growled again and leaned forward, smashing his lips into the other man's, trying to dominate him through a kiss. The partial devil continued to struggle at first but then Dante pressed Nero to the wall with his entire body, pushing his tongue into the other's mouth and hoping for a better response than simple submission. When the clawing at his face and neck turned to confused pushing he pulled away, looking into puzzled amber glowing eyes.

"Dante?" Nero blinked then and looked at his hand, not even seeming to realize until that moment that he'd pulled out his Devil Trigger.

"Hey, there you are." Nero hissed and looked to his other arm where it was pinned at the wrist.

"Okay, so I know we like to experiment but this is pushing it. Plus I don't remember agreeing to this…" Dante chuckled and took a step back, dispelling the summoned swords with a simple flick of his wrist. Nero grumbled as the holes started to close but Dante was already headed for the scientist only to stop in confusion. Where the man had been there was now a large insectoid devil.

"What the hell..?" he muttered, watching as the monster got to its feet. It turned and looked at him and raised a shaking finger.

"No… you can't…!" it said and Dante just tilted his head. The man-monster started to back away and then Nero leapt up onto the upper platform to join him.

"No you don't!" he snapped, his Devil Bringer shooting forward and grabbing ahold of the monster's leg, yanking him all the way back into the wall behind them. The pair stalked forward then, watching the man with interest.

"So…" Nero crouched "I'm not a fan of possession, particularly against myself so you're going to explain what's going on. Right. Now." the demon quivered, its wings fluttering uselessly.

"I… I won't talk! Not to you!" he said and Nero rolled his eyes before lifting one hand, Ifrit coming into existence and flaring hotly. The partial devil grabbed one ankle, grinning when the man started screaming. When the hunter let go the demon looked to Dante who just shrugged.

"Hey man, don't look at me, he's the one who's got a beef with you, you shouldn't have had him mind controlled."

"Answer me." Nero snapped, flaming claws clicking against one another "What the hell's going on here?!" the demon shrieked.

"Alright! Alright! We all took part in the Ascension Ceremony… and His Holiness plans on bringing the Savior back to the world… Please!" he squeaked when Nero pounded a fist into the ground.

"Dammit Dante, why does this always turn back around to your father!?" Dante just sighed tiredly

"Tell me about it, I've been wondering the same thing myself for a long time. If I could see the old fucker one more time, I'd tell him to clean up his own damn messes. Then I'd punch him."

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	25. I'm Sorry

A/N: Hey guys! Two weeks in a row! Woot! Alright so this fiction is probably on its last legs, I'm trying to finish this one up as I've been working on this and its precursor for a very, _very_ long time and I'm just… ready to be done with them, not that I haven't loved them but it's been what… three years? Four? Something like that and I just need to finish them up. Maybe then I'll go back and start spiffing up some of my old fics, or maybe I'll put out some more of my really long thing for my take on the entire timeline… *shrugs*

Disclaimer: I still don't own this after four years, not that I've been trying very hard but… meh

I'm Sorry

Nero looked between his partner and the monstrosity that sat before him. His hunting companion seemed pretty lost in thought, probably considering the fact that his family was causing problems for everyone again. Dante had a tendency to get wrapped up in the whole self pity thing from time to time. Usually all it took to snap him out though was sorting through the mess that his father had made for them this time. Often easier said than done… the partial devil sighed and turned back to what had become of Agnus. He'd never like the man, him turning into a demon wasn't helping any of that opinion.

"Think he's got any other useful info?" he said, lifting a single claw. Enjoying how the scientist gave a semblance of a squeak and probably just pissed himself. The half devil looked over to his partner and then to the demon before them.

"Probably not reliably. When it comes to my father, I'm probably one of the best sources still alive." Nero was sure that no one else would've caught the snag in Dante's voice as he said this. He was thinking of his brother again, poor bastard.

"Well then." Nero shifted his weight and Agnus shrieked, attempting to roll over and flee but couldn't seem to manage the task. At least, not before Nero's devil bringer snapped forward, the searing hot encasing of Ifrit still active as it snapped clean through the demon's carapace and into its chest cavity. Nero huffed afterward, his demonic blood was singing, both from the fight with Dante and the act of taking down another lower demon, but his more human half felt fairly disgusted, shaking off the filth from his claws. Dante shook his head, seeming a little more lost now, whether to his instincts or to his thoughts the partial devil couldn't tell but he stepped forward, sliding a hand through his lover's stained hair, his own devil trigger melting away as his heart settled slightly.

"It's going to be okay. I don't blame you." he said softly. The other man heaved a breath and looked into eyes that were a stormy reflection of his own.

"I know. It's just… if it wasn't for…"

"You aren't to blame for the sins of your father." Nero reminded him gently, pressing their foreheads together, completely ignoring the gore that coated the both of them. "Now are you going to help me clean up his mess." Dante laughed lightly and kissed the other hunter's nose.

"I suppose, we should really track him down in the afterlife and charge him for the cleaning service though."

"Yeah no kidding, the man doesn't even have the decency to be able to come back to life to clean up his own mess." Nero rolled his eyes "The gall." Dante sighed again and twitched his fingers, Rebellion flying into his hand. He leaned his head back.

"I need a couple minutes of a breather though. You only punched me through the chest more than once you know." Nero chuckled and turned around so his own back was facing the wall as well

"Alright, hey, I am sorry about that."

"Don't sweat it. I'm just getting too old to be stabbed through the chest every chance I get." Nero rolled his eyes again.

"Right, cause you're sooo much older than I am."

"Hey three months is a long time you know!"

"Shut up and close your eyes, I'll keep watch for twenty."

-Time Slip-

Dante opened his eyes, feeling much better than he had before and found Nero sitting next to him, a book opened in his lap.

"What'cha reading?" he asked, and then cleared his throat as the words came out funny. Nero started slightly and looked over at him and smiled.

"Just some of Agnus' old notes, guy was definitely a mad scientist. They were sure that if they built the proper body that they'd be able to resurrect your father into it."

"Is that what they're attempting?" the half devil snorted. "Cause that's gonna work out real well for them. People have been after the old man's power for years, never have I heard of someone trying to resurrect him into a new body."

"Still. They have some powerful devil arms on their side, they may not resurrect your father, or even his power but they may get something nasty going." Dante nodded.

"Yeah, whelp, what are we waiting for, let's get going." he rolled onto his feet and gave Nero a lift, who greatly appreciated it.

"Speaking of devil arms." the partial devil said "I thought we agreed that I could have the next one." Dante pulled Yamato to his hand, looking at the ancient katana.

"This was my brother's." he said and Nero blinked at the blade

"That's the one?" he asked and Dante nodded

"I'm sorry."

A/N: Okay so this is kinda a short chapter and a bunch of filler but I just need to keep moving on what I'm typing tonight so… yeah this is what you get?

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	26. How Dare You

A/N: I know it's been a while, I'm just gonna say hi and get right on going

Disclaimer: The Grand Poo-bah doesn't have to make these… I think

How Dare You

"Y'know, when we get home, I just want to sleep for a week." Dante sighed as they trudged up into a brightly lit forest. Well jungle was probably the better description.

"You literally just took a nap." Nero said as he squinted into the sun. They'd just spent the last several hours inside and the bright sun surprised him as he stepped out into it.

"Yeah but that was just to get some energy back, now… now I just want to do nothing for several days. Have no engagements, no responsibilities…"

"I can think of a couple things that I'd like to do." Nero glanced over at his partner who looked back and winked.

"Well that would be a beautiful exception to the rules." he laughed and then leapt off the cliff.

"Hey!" Nero shouted, running after his friend, taking a leap after him and leaning into the fall, swiftly catching up with his lover and flipping them both over to catch Dante in his arms as they landed on the ground.

"Oh, Nero, you sweep me off my feet." Dante teased, earning a look from his partner who promptly dropped him on his ass.

"Let's go kill the demon at this hellgate." he said, stomping off farther, claws flaring with fire. Dante just laughed and followed his partner casually.

"You get angry too easily." he said as he easily caught up. Nero just looked over and grinned.

"You know I'm not actually angry, 'sides I think you're the one with the short temper." Dante rolled his eyes, casually pulling out Ivory as he felt the pulse of another demon in the area.

"Yeah right, you're the one always leaping to fight." the demon leapt out of the brush as he said this and Dante fired, Nero scooping the monster from the air as its ability to levitate abandoned it and slammed it on the ground in a sight of fire and fury. He didn't even look over to his partner as he tossed up another demon.

"Well, maybe you have a point." he could hear the swish of Rebellion in the air and he just grinned. Their banter quickly dissolved as they both began to focus on the monsters in front of them, both very ready for the end of this battle, of this hellgate. Hell, Nero just wanted to be able to go home, Dante was right, he was ready for several days of peace, maybe a low key mission or two but nothing beyond that and a shitty movie and time spent in his lover's arms. Yeah that sounded pretty great… He swung again, his arm burning bright with the power of the fire demon that he kept anchored to him now.

-Time Slip-

Both boys were getting tired of the seed-like demons that kept upping the abilities of the lower level monsters that they were fighting. They'd seen a couple glimpses of the monster that was waiting for them before the hellgate and neither of them was too pleased with what they'd seen. But then again neither of them could say that getting chased by a dragon-like demon would be classified by anyone as fun and a good first impression.

"What is it with demons and needing to fight everything whenever something moves?" Nero huffed after a particularly heavy wave of demons, he wiped the sweat from his brow and stood, slinging Red Queen over his shoulder.

"I don't know but trust me, I'd love to talk my way out of some of these situations too." Dante laughed, checking the bullets in his guns and then cocking them preemptively. Nero blinked at him

"I mean you did the same thing to me when we first met- wait, how old are those bullets?" he'd never seen the other hunter reload his guns, he knew for a fact that the half devil generated his bullets out of his own demonic energy and didn't need to.

"Uh… almost as old as the guns themselves." he said, thinking back to when he'd picked them up and gave them their fiery first shots. That'd been a long time ago, he'd been a different man back then, full of anger and need for the fight.

"They're gonna rust in there." Nero huffed, he'd long since taken the bullets out of his own gun to make it easier not to forget that there was something in there. Plus then if someone took it away from him, it couldn't be used against him. Unless it was Dante, then he'd be screwed.

"Also, I'm pretty sure you attacked me first when I washed up on this god-forsaken shore all those years ago." Nero laughed

"Maybe I did, doesn't change the fact that you fought right back and then invited yourself to my house."

"You didn't invite me? Maybe I was just too distracted by that pretty face." the half devil teased. Nero rolled his eyes.

"Gods, why do I date you? You're so cheesy." Dante laughed and the partial devil couldn't help but join in. Nero looked over at his lover and couldn't help but step up and give him a kiss.

"For luck." he said as he stepped forward into the clearing where the eerie green glow of the hellgate floated over their heads. Dante smiled and followed him, looking to the sky where they'd both last seen the dragon-like monster floating lazily, shooting off seeds wherever she could. There was a hissing sound and Nero was tackled off his feet just as teeth snapped in the space he had just occupied. He let out a large breath and then laughed a little, that wouldn't have been fun… There was the screech of a female voice as the dragon mouth peeled back to reveal a woman's torso.

"How dare you?!" she hissed

A/N: Alright, I've got a lot more of this to go to catch up this week so.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	27. Kyrie?

A/N: I'm just coming right off the last chapter so I'm just gonna keep right on going.

Disclaimer: I still don't

Kyrie?

"How dare us?" Dante asked, casually getting to his feet after tackling his partner to the ground to avoid the dragon-like mouth of the monster. "How dare you lay a hand on my partner here!" he said, brushing imaginary dust from his coat, which was thoroughly covered in dirt, grime and the blood of both himself and his partner. It was definitely going to be time to buy a new one when they got back home, Nero decided, not looking forward to the trip, it hadn't gotten any easier to convince Dante to get new work clothes as the years had gone by…

"Partner…" the demon hissed with a roll of her eyes. "You think that you get a choice to not bond with one of my children?!" she snarled and darted forward with an angry shriek. Nero rolled out the way with ease. She continued to scream and screech and whip her tail at them and summoned up small armies of seeds to fight for her as well. The pair had little difficulty dispatching her, perhaps if it had only been one of them it'd have been more of a challenge but honestly the hoards of the smaller demons had been more of a challenge…

She tried to flee last minute but Nero reached out with his Devil Bringer, snagging the end of her tail as Dante shot her to pieces. The hellgate faded to black and the power source glowed ominously at its side. Nero looked to his partner and raised his brow.

"I told you, this one's yours."

"Better be something good." Nero grumbled, striding forward, the end of the creature's tail absorbing into his Devil Bringer as he did. He reached forward, the light flaring around his body as Ifrit was delegated to the back of his mind and a new devil arm took its place. Nero willed the mouth cover that'd formed to fold back and glared at his partner.

"Dammit Dante! I already have one of these!" he shouted, Dante winced

"I didn't know that that was going to be the devil arm powering the gate! Plus I have one too, it's not like I need another…" Nero stalked forward, feeling the power that flared out from the devil arm, he felt like he could punch Dante clear back to the castle if he so wanted to… and maybe he did.

"Please be reasonable Nero?" the half devil asked, backing away with his hands up in the air. Nero let out a growl and then whirled around, flying at the hellgate, a singular punch blowing it to smithereens and a few kicks ensuring that there was no way that anyone was going to reassemble the damn thing.

"I get the next one too. If there is one." he said with a growl, stalking forward and delegating the devil arm to the back of his mind and calling forth Ifrit again. The devil arm tried to assert itself.

 _I am the might Gilgamesh! You-_

 _I don't care._ Nero pushed back, silencing the thing in the back of his head. I seemed surprised at the force behind the lazy words.

"Great, it's a talkative one too." he grumbled, shaking his head and continuing onward, his partner following behind him.

"It's better than the ones that never say anything and just try and command your body instead." the half devil said, giving Yamato a pointed rattle, the sword didn't react. Nero paused then and looked over at Dante.

"Hey, does Rebellion ever speak to you?" Dante gave a small smile

"She hasn't for a long time, but I know she's always listening," he leaned in conspiratorially "always judging."

"Judging? Judging what? Wait Rebellion's a she?" Nero looked over at his friend, he'd never bothered to ask that and suddenly felt bad that he hadn't thought to do so before.

"Red Queen's a she too." Dante pointed out "And Rebellion judges everything, the last thing that I heard from her was that I needed to get off my ass and get in gear and teach you to quit wasting so much energy in your sword swings."

"Hey!"

"Her words, not mine." the half devil said "She doesn't talk much anymore, I think it's because she's been a weapon for so long now that she's kind of forgotten how to." Nero looked at him.

"Huh."

"Yeah, there's a few books back at the shop that have to do with devil arms, you should give them a read when we get back, they're honestly fascinating. A pain in the ass 'cause they're written in a very old version of demonic script but fascinating none the less." He patted his lover on the shoulder

"But we should be moving on, finish up with all the problems that my dad started in your city." Nero couldn't help but laugh at that

"Yeah no kidding. Hey where's Trish? Wasn't she going to help us out with this? Go undercover or something?" Dante just shrugged

"Hell if I know what's going on in that woman's head, half the time, I'm sure that she's just fucking with me just for fun and then I just sigh and let it blow over. If she's here, great, if not, well that's what I'm counting on so…" he shrugged again as they made their way to the bridge and slowly crossed.

"Gods what is up with the weather changes around here right now?" Dante said, suddenly feeling cold now that he wasn't sweating constantly anymore.

"I think it's the effect of having so many hellgates open in one area, even if they aren't true hellgates, they still let in the effect of the hell they lead to. Either way, it's not our problem as soon as we stop _His Holiness_ and get the hell home." Nero sneered the name and then froze as they crested the hill to the entrance to the headquarters of the Order of the Sword.

"Kyrie?"

A/N: Yup, and moving right along again so,

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	28. It Hurts

A/N: I'm just on a roll with this one tonight so yup! Although I am going to pause long enough to make myself a whiskey coke… alright, good to go

Disclaimer: this is the third one in an hour and a half, why on earth do I need to keep doing this…?

It Hurts 

The brunette looked different than the last time that Nero had seen her. A lot of her softer edges were gone, instead there was a hardness there and an anger in her eyes that the partial devil couldn't place.

"Hi Nero." she said, her voice lacking it's usual musical lilt to it "It's been a long time hasn't it?" the partial devil didn't know what to say to that. Thankfully Dante came up the stairs behind him in that moment and the former songstress paused again, her eyes locking onto the half devil next to her former foster brother.

"Hi, I don't think we've ever been formally introduced," she said, rage dripping off her words "I'm Kyrie, you're Dante right?" she asked the question simply enough.

"Yes?" the half devil responded, he wasn't used to this kind of greeting, this was one that they both felt wary about. Kyrie was outright hostile but both of them remembered the last time that they'd seen her, screaming into the sky as Dante had carried the partial devil off and away from the island after they'd killed her brother…

"After you left, I decided that I should be stronger. Credo wouldn't have wanted me to mourn him and move on. He would've wanted revenge on the demon who killed him…" her eyes began to glow as she spoke and the partial devil froze even further than he had when he'd seen her.

"Kyrie no…" she looked at the two of them

"So, I participated in the ascension, I've moved above humanity, I've become the angel that I was always meant to be." she said, bright light surrounding her and causing both of the hunters to flinch away and shield their eyes.

"No Kyrie…" Nero said softly as the light faded and he saw what had become of the girl that he'd once loved. "All you've become is a demon." the demon's form was sleek and silvery, much like the girl herself, with a blade connected to one arm which she swung with a familiarity that made a shiver run down Nero's spine. That meant she knew how to use it and the partial devil didn't want to think about why she knew such things. Credo had tried so hard to protect her from the cruelties of the real world when she was a child and it had worked, for a long time anyway. Now… now she'd had them all thrust upon her and had broken under the pressure.

"I shall destroy you demon!" she cried, her voice warped from the demonic form that she currently inhabited. And then she flew forward, leading with the blade, Nero tensed, anticipating the attack and instead it flew straight for Dante. The partial devil rolled his eyes, he should have known… Dante had been the one to land the killing blow on Credo. The half devil snagged the blade with his bare hands, blood flying everywhere as she nearly chopped the appendage off. For his part, Dante didn't even flinch, he just took it, looking into the eyes of a monster with no fear, only sadness.

"Kyrie." he said, so softly that Nero nearly didn't hear it. "I am so sorry. So so sorry." it nearly broke Nero's heart, Dante felt just as bad and guilty for breaking apart his former friend's life as he did. He sighed and called up Ifrit onto his hands and Gilgamesh encased his legs like another pair of boots.

"No! Die demon!" she shrieked, yanking the blade down and cutting through Dante's chest while she was at it. Nero charged then. There was only so much of a beating that he could watch his partner take while he just sat back and did nothing. He'd been there once while the half devil had battled his own brother… He looked back to Kyrie, she deserved more than the blade of a man that she didn't know. He looked back to Dante and rather ungracefully shoved him from the platform, the half devil would be fine, he could swim. He looked back to Kyrie.

"You! And you betrayed me!" she shrieked, clearly caught up in the heat of the battle. Nero let a single tear slip from his eye as he met her strike, blocking with his Devil Bringer and looking to the place where his partner had been before turning back to the fight at hand.

"I'm sorry Kyrie." he said, shoving her away and coming in for a couple powerful strikes of his own.

"You tricked me! I thought you loved me!" she charged forward and Nero had to leap to the side to avoid the strength of the blow as it cut into the concrete beneath their feet.

"I did!" he landed one blow, then two, then three before she staggered back, some of the white feathers burned and others glowing as the embers from Ifrit catching on them.

"I never meant to hurt you!" he said, charging back in only to clash with the elegant blade. The partial devil let go of his devil trigger then, allowing the power to flow over his form, adding fire and power to his blows and he pushed back the girl that he'd grown up with.

"I'm sorry…" he said quietly, before thrusting his Devil Bringer forward, it's power boosted by both Ifrit and his trigger, the claws sliding through her ribcage and out the other side.

"Nero…" clarity came back to human eyes for one more moment. "It hurts…" and then she went limp.

A/N: Still just plugging along with catching up…

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	29. I Wish

A/N: Starting this shtick but I need to take care of dishes and lunches for next week before I really get going so I'll be right back…

Disclaimer: *makes random noises*

I Wish

Dante grunted as he continued to clamber up the side of bridge to the Order of the Sword Headquarters. He was worried about his partner, he could see a look his lover's eyes just before he was pushed over the edge that spoke millions. His partner didn't want him to be a part of the killing of someone close to him. Or at least someone who _had_ been close with him. He could understand that, but hadn't Nero kicked his ass for doing something similar once? That's why that look had been so familiar, it was the same look that had been on his own face right before he'd gone toe to toe with Vergil for the very last time, finally putting his brother out of his misery. He looked up to the top, where he could hear the sounds of battle and grunted, he was getting too old for this shit… He tapped into his demonic heritage, triggering and dropping off the side he'd been attempting to climb and giving his wings a few powerful flaps and taking to the sky, rising to the top of the platform in mere moments instead of the likely twenty minutes that it would've taken him to climb the damn thing… Just in time to see Nero plunge his hand through the chest of the girl who he'd once loved. The half devil winced and dropped to the concrete as quietly as he could, allowing his demonic form to drop the second he did. Nero's lasted a few more moments before he also let it drop, dropping to his knees and the girl's now human body falling to the ground, completely lifeless.

Nero's shoulder's heaved once, twice before he lifted his head to the heavens and letting out a cry that broke his partner's heart. He couldn't wait any longer, he rushed forward, wrapping his arms around the partial devil who struggled for a second before seeming to realize who was holding him and then relaxing into the grip.

"Shh… shh…" Dante whispered, rocking both of them back and forth on their knees. They were both silent for a few very long minutes before Nero's sobbing relaxed back into small hiccups.

"I'm going to kill him." the growl was low in the partial devil's throat and he looked up with eyes that were lit from behind with demonic energy. "I am going to kill that damn priest and then I'm going to follow him to hell and kill him again. She didn't deserve that." he snarled, pointing at Kyrie's lifeless body. Dante hushed him and kissed his forehead.

"I know… I know…" he smooshed their foreheads together, his hand on the other hunter's cheek to keep him from turning away. "We'll do it together okay. I'll be here for you, always." Nero's eyes seemed to focus once more, some of the red light fading away.

"Dante… Gods Dante, why?" Dante gave a sad smile.

"I don't know, I've been asking myself that question for a very long time. Sometimes humanity is no better than the demons we try to protect them from." he said. He kissed his partner gently again and then helped him to his feet. Nero couldn't help but look back over at Kyrie's body once again.

"She deserves to be put to rest." the half devil put a hand on Nero's shoulder

"I know, but we don't have the time for that right now." Nero's chest heaved once more with a denied sob and then he took a deep breath.

"Right." He looked up, avoiding making eye contact with the body or his lover "Let's go." he strode forward, into the building and away from the last thing tying him to this island.

-Time Slip-

"Are you sure you're okay?" Dante asked as they made their way into the building and through a small horde of demons.

"I'm fine." Nero snapped, wrenching one of the demons from the air and scorching its' throat until it quit shrieking. He stomped forward to the artifact that hung, suspended by some sort of magic ahead of them. He scooped it out of the field that it was being suspended in and inspected it, or at least he meant to when it was absorbed into his arm, much like some of the other artifacts that they had come across on their journey here.

"You don't sound like it." Dante's comment was quiet, and Nero knew that the half devil wasn't looking for a response, that he just wanted the other hunter to know that he was worried. Nero couldn't help his anger, he'd known Kyrie since he was a child and had been much closer with her than probably anyone else on the island. It hurt to have her gone. Sure, he had cut ties with her the moment that he'd fled the island several years ago and wouldn't look back for the world, he had still hoped that she'd learned to move on and had a happy life. It made his heart feel heavy thinking that she'd spent this entire time wanting to enact justice on himself and Dante…

"Why couldn't she just let it go…" he whispered. Dante looked at him.

"I don't know. I can't know why some people get caught on certain things, power, vengeance, who knows. Sometimes a person just breaks and there's nothing that can be done." Nero looked down at his boots

"I just… I wish…" he looked up to see Dante leaping toward him, looking worried and whirled just in time to see the lance of a suit of armor charging right at him.

A/N: One more for this one and then I'll be moving on to my cross over, I'll be pretty well caught up for the last few weeks so… yup.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	30. I Agree

A/N: Finally, the last one for this fanfiction… I'm trying to catch up for the past four weeks, I know I've missed more than that recently but that's as far back as I'm willing to type for three concurrently running fanfictions. Good news! I've moved… twice! And now have my first full time position doing engineering! Woo! Anyway, I'm stoked to move on to the next fanfiction, I'm also literally bribing myself with Jameson and coke if I finish this…

Disclaimer: The soundtrack, which I also don't own, that I've been listening to is starting to get really old…

I Agree

Nero blinked as the creature in front of him slowed down unreasonably and he was able to side-step it as it whirled by, confused as it turned at a snail's pace.

"What the hell…?" he muttered, looking up to see the armor drawing it's lance back it what looked like exaggerated slow motion. He gave it a few precise stabs and it crumbled, also very slowly. He looked up to see Dante, also moving very slowly, he blinked a couple times and the effect faded, the world speeding up around him.

"What just happened…?" Dante asked, looking at the armor that was no in pieces on the floor.

"I think the artifact that I just picked up had some sort of effect on me, everything started moving very slowly." Nero said, looking down at his hands. No matter how often it happened, he still didn't think that he'd ever get used to the gaining of new abilities…

"You slowed time?" Dante asked and the partial devil nodded, momentarily forgetting his earlier worries and sadness. The half devil laughed at that and Nero just blinked at him.

"What?"

"It's just funny because I picked up a similar ability when I was in the Temen-Ni-Gru. It's extremely useful, I just never used it with you cause it makes it a lot harder to coordinate movements with someone who is moving in slow motion. Also it eats up my energy like crazy." he shrugged "I wonder if they'll work at the same time. Can you do it again?" Nero paused, trying to internally locate the feeling that he'd activated while the armor was attacking.

"I think so?" he said after a moment, catching on something in his energy that he hadn't felt before. Dante nodded

"Alright… go." Nero blinked, pulling on the energy within himself and then looked at his partner

"Did it work?" Dante pointed to lasers up ahead of them that had been whirling at a breakneck speed that were now slow and steady, the patterns simple to pick out.

"Shit… this is cool." Nero said, watching the armor in the other room darting around, unable to pass by the lasers. He then looked back to his partner, who was the only other thing moving at a normal pace. Well, normal to them. He let go of the new ability, the rush of using it wearing off quickly and the lack of energy diving in to take its place.

"Told ya." Dante said with a deep breath "Anyway, if you can swing it, it'll help us clear out this area a lot faster. Plus I think we'll need it to get past those lasers, unless you feel like finding a control room."

"Fuck that." Nero huffed "I'd rather exhaust myself and get the hell through here." Dante nodded

"That's the spirit."

-Time Slip-

They ended up having to take several breaks while trying to push their way through the hordes of demons that clogged up the Headquarters.

"This is so ironic. This is meant to be the central head of the Order of the Sword, knights sworn to fight demons… and here we are, cleaning demons out of it instead." Nero sighed, swinging Red Queen, guts and blood flying off and spattering the walls behind him.

"Jeez and you actually hung out with these guys? No wonder it was so easy to beat you when we first met, if this is the kind of stuff your headquarters is made out of." the half devil teased. Nero gave him a flat look and the other hunter just laughed.

"Come on, I think we're almost to the other side."

"We are, I used to work here remember, but maybe I've just hit you on the head a few too many times for you to recall that."

"Alright, when we get back to the shop, you're on. One on one." Dante said with a bright grin.

"You know, if you want to screw, all you have to do is say so, cause that's what that turns into, every time." Nero laughed

"Not every time!"

"Every time." the partial devil insisted, throwing the doors to the next room open and dashing it, Red Queen ablaze and roaring. Nero took comfort in the familiar banter and the rumble of his sword in his hand. They'd get through this, just like they always did, they'd put things right and then get the hell out of dodge. He was ready to officially put this town, this island behind him, once and for all.

-Time Slip-

"I thought you said that we were almost to the back entrance." Dante panted, holding himself up with his sword.

"We are." Nero was just as exhausted. "I just didn't expect there to be a tear in the middle of headquarters… Jeez, I don't think I've ever fought that many demons at once."

"I have…" Dante said wearily "I didn't think I'd ever have to do it again." he pushed himself up into a standing position and then stumbled slightly.

"That door leads outside and I'm sure there's even more infestation out there. I vote for a quick rest in here." Nero muttered, not even bothering to stand, just falling back on his ass and flopping back, narrowly avoiding the mess of the last demon he'd killed.

"I agree."

A/N: I know it's a bit short, but I've been literally typing for hours so… yeah.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	31. You Will Eat Your Words

A/N: Still trying to play catchup… not with this one, now I'm just typing the single chapter for the week but the others… well I'm seriously behind… Anyway, onward to typing…

Disclaimer: ….

You Will Eat Your Words!

Nero woke later, how much later he couldn't say, but looking at the light coming in from under the doors, it had to be getting close to late evening. He looked over at Dante who was still lightly snoring. He smiled at his partner and rubbed his shoulder gently, watching as ashen lashes fluttered and blue eyes opened.

"Hey there." Dante said as he woke up "Didn't realize that I fell asleep…" Nero laughed

"I'm surprised your own snoring didn't wake you up, but I think it's only been a couple hours. I don't think the world would be doomed if we waited that long. And if it was… well then I'd expect a bigger paycheck for cleaning up the mess." Dante laughed

"I think you've spent too much time around Lady is what I think." he got to his feet with a sigh and then turned to help his partner, who gratefully accepted the hand.

"I think it's only fair." the partial devil said "But sadly I don't think that's the case, the islands' probably still in tact."

"Sadly."

"Yeah, you're telling me." Nero shook his head "Well let's quit stalling and get out there and take care of business." Dante nodded, stretching his arms over his head and then cracking his neck.

"Let's go." he said with a grin, striding forward and kicking the doors open, entirely expecting the small horde of demons that awaited them on the other side, most of them surprised by the entrance of the two slayers, but most didn't have the time to process that surprise before they received a bullet to the face.

"Alright, work work work…" Nero sighed as he revved Red Queen and charged forward, the blade sparking on the ground and glowing red hot as he slashed into the first wave.

-Time Slip-

Slowly the pair made their way forward, pushing through round after round of demons until finally they stood, slightly worn down, face to face with a huge statue. Nero looked at his partner.

"Does it look anything like him?" he asked and the half devil scoffed

"Not in the slightest, picture more of a stuck up snob and you're a lot closer." Nero laughed but it was interrupted by the cruel sounding sneer of an older sounding gentleman. The two slayers looked up to see who they had in their company. The partial devil wasn't surprised in the slightest to see Sanctus standing upon the statue, looking for all the world like the cat who'd gotten the cream.

"Santus!" the partial devil said "What a big surprise!" the words were heavy with sarcasm. The priest looked down to see the hunters, pretending to look surprised himself.

"Well well… what do we have here…? The blood of Sparda and his consort…"

"Hey! This consort has a name!" Nero shouted up, his Devil Bringer flaring in annoyance. He was just ready for this mission to be over… Sanctus merely sneered again and waved his hand.

"It matters not, you two are far too late, the Savior is nearly complete, would you like to see a sample of it's power?" Dante sighed

"Does it matter how we answer?" he asked, sounding more than a little bored. These evil leader types were all so the same… monologue, talk about how great they are, threaten and then pull up some evil they either couldn't control or wasn't all that big of a deal… Dante shook his head. Sanctus just looked surprised

"Look dude, this isn't my first rodeo, so why don't you fire it up and we'll see what it can do while we kick its ass?" Nero wanted to snicker at the angry look that crossed Sanctus' face.

"How dare you mock the power of the Savior?!"

"It's supposed to be modeled after Sparda, right? 'Cause I'd mock him to his face if he had the audacity to show up here after all the shit I've had to go through to clean up his messes…" Sanctus snarled and his body disappeared into the statue. Moments later it rose up, eyes glinting with an internal light.

"Finally!" Nero said, Ifrit flaring and revving the sword on his back. "I thought he'd never shut up!"

"No kidding!" Dante laughed, performing a leaping roll out of the way of the fist that came slamming down toward them. The talking faded away after that as the pair fell into the dance of battle that they both knew so well. It didn't take long for both of them to notice that the many crystals that dotted the statue were the easiest weak point to take out and both began gunning for them. Nero at one point hoisted Dante with his Devil Bringer and launched the man at one to finish shattering it. They both looked at one another when it crackled into dark blue shards along the concrete and the statue fell still. Sanctus appeared above the statue's head once more, looking significantly more worn down.

"No! How can it be?" He looked down at the immobile statue.

"Oh no! It's almost like we warned you!" Nero called, smirk heavy on his face. The priest snarled and then dove toward them, eyes aglow with demonic energy.

"You will eat your words!"

A/N: Okay I know this is short but… I have a ton more chapters to write for my other stuff… so yeah… that's just how it's gonna be this week.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	32. Yeah Let's Go Home

A/N: Alright so I just fought tooth and nail with word cause my license went up and so Microsoft was trying to get me to buy a subscription and I was like "fuck that" and so I had to search for the one time pay download and then fight with it cause my computer confuses a lot of download since my OS isn't on the same hard drive that I download things onto since the solid state isn't big enough to support most downloads… anyway, done ranting… I think. This fanfiction is probably only going to have a chapter or two left, I'm pretty ready to be done with this one, I've been working on it for soooo long, it's about time I wrapped it up.

Disclaimer: After fighting to own word I don't want to lay claim to anything…

Yeah, Let's Go Home

The priest flew down at them at a speed that surprised both hunters. He had the appearance of a frail old man, not someone who'd be flying at you at a breakneck speed from hundreds of feet in the air. Nero blocked the flash of fiery energy with Ifrit, the flaming devil arm reveling in the heat that came it's way. The partial devil grinned at that, there was some good things that came from having a large array of devil arms at their disposal, one of them was going to be a fantastic match against whatever they were going to fight. At least, if one of them didn't forget half of them nearly every mission they went on… he looked over at his partner who jumped in to join the fray, driving Sanctus back. The old man didn't seem ready to fight off two devils at the same time. That didn't stop him from throwing absolutely everything that he had at the two of them, fire, lasers, large rocks, he seemed to have anything and everything at his disposal. At one point Dante just sighed

"All right screw this." and he pulled out a weapon that the partial devil didn't expect to see that day. Dante rarely if ever brought Sparda along for missions as the old devil arm was a bit too much power all at once. Nero had picked it up only once and had nearly been overwhelmed by the force that tried to take him over. Dante triggered then and charge forward, his form sparking with red lightning and the pair started clanging together at a breakneck pace. Nero took a few deep breaths and then charged forward himself, pushing into the fray. Sanctus soon found himself with his back against the statue that he had tried to turn into a god. He looked back at the pair, eyes widening as he realized that this was it… there was nothing that he could do to save himself. Nero snarled and shoved his demonic hand forward, straight into the man's chest and clenching the old man's heart still. He slumped forward and let out one last breath, body slowly beginning to disintegrate as many devils did when in the human realm. The partial devil yanked his hand out of the body, flicking blood and gore off to the side.

"It all started with this, good that I got to use it to end it." he sighed, some of the adrenalin fading from this system, though his heart was still a jackhammer in his chest. It was hard to believe that it was all over… He looked over at Dante, who was still triggered, breathing heavily, hand clenched around Sparda. Nero took a step over to his partner, whose head snapped up to meet his eyes as soon as he moved.

"Dante…" the blue hunter said softly, holding out his human hand "It's me. Let go of the sword." Dante's breath hitched once, twice and then the red lightning faded and he flicked the weapon back into the pocket dimension where it belonged. The partial devil let out a relieved sigh as he did.

"I can't believe that you did that…" he laughed "That was really risky." Dante laughed a little himself.

"I wanted this to finally be over." he said, rubbing a hand through his messy hair. "It seemed like a decent risk at the moment." Nero just shook his head and wrapped his partner into a hug.

"This is why I don't let you gamble." he laughed, still shaking a little bit. It slowly subsided as his partner's arms wrapped around him to return the hug.

"Let's go home." Dante whispered.

"What about our payment?" Nero teased, pulling back, a couple tears collecting at the corners of his eyes. He felt like a massive weight had been lifted from his chest. He had nothing tying him to this god-forsaken island anymore… Dante couldn't help but laugh at that.

"I really couldn't care less about that right now, let Lady deal with it, I have a ferry and a plane and a really good nap calling my name right now."

"How about a shower? Cause we're both disgusting right now." Nero ran a hand through his hair and winced as the whole thing stood on end and didn't fall back as it was so coated in grime and sweat and gods knew what else. He didn't want to think about what he actually looked like right now…

"That can wait… I just want to be at home, besides I don't think anyone's going to let us just jump into their bathroom after how much we just disrupted the local power struggle…" the half devil laughed, flicking some grime from the ends of his own fingers.

"Yeah well you didn't just shove your arm through a gross old man." Nero eyed his devil bringer with distaste, dismissing Ifrit in hopes some of the gore would go with it. It didn't. He sighed.

"Yeah, let's go home." he agreed, walking off in the direction of the ferry with his partner.

A/N: Alright, that's all I got for now, there'll be at least one more chapter, maybe two.

Till next time,

-Winged Element


	33. What a Pair You Two Make

A/N: I have a heavy feeling that this is going to be the last chapter of this… It's been one hell of a ride guys! But I'm ready to be done with this one, and done with this series. I'm looking to maybe start another crossover or maybe I'll just stick with two fanfictions for a while. Either way, thanks to everyone for sticking with me for this crazy journey. Now… shall we?

Disclaimer: I've been working on this FF and the one that preceded it for… O.o oh god… three years… do I really need to keep doing this?

What a Pair You Two Make

Nero smiled at the smell of dust that greeted him as he swung the door of Devil May Cry open. Despite the mustiness and the dim building there was an underlying feeling of _home_. He dropped his bag onto the floor and walked forward, hearing Dante do the same and the clatter of the door behind them. Everything looked just the same as it always did and the partial devil couldn't help but remember when he'd first moved in. Not much had changed, a few demon skulls on the walls had rotated out but that was about it. It looked like Patty may have stopped by while they were gone as there was less dust and less trash in the building than Nero remembered there being when they left. He shrugged and immediately began shucking clothes as he started toward the bathroom. He heard Dante give a wolf whistle behind him and looked over his should and gave a quick wink before making a beeline for the shower. The half devil caught him as he entered the bathroom, spinning him around and pressing his lips to the other male's. Nero smiled against his lover's lips and fumbled around for the shower nozzle. There was a hiss and then the sound of rushing water. Both men paused for a moment to look at the gushing water.

"Did it always pause like that?" Nero asked, Dante watched it for a second longer before shrugging and returning to kissing the partial devil, his hands working at the remaining clothing. Nero just ran a warm claw down his partner's shirt, the leather splitting easily around the sharp talon. Dante hissed as the other man drew blood but didn't complain, the shirt was beyond repair anyway… actually most of his clothing was… He stepped out of the pants as Nero pushed them over his hips, his foot snaking over the edge of the bathtub to see if the water was actually warm. The half devil winced as his foot was scalded. Nero laughed as the other pulled away to adjust the heat and turn on the shower head before returning.

"I think this is the first time I've ever lost to the shower." he teased as Dante finagled with the picky lever. The shower rushed on, cold for one second before heating up to the adjusted temp. Dante looked over his shoulder and stuck his tongue out.

"I think this is the first time that a shower sounds just as appealing as sex." he shot back and Nero laughed but couldn't help but agree, peeling off his socks and pants before stepping under the warm spray. He groaned, tilting his head back, jerking slightly as teeth nibbled along his throat, followed by warm kisses and a wet tongue. The partial devil reached around and ran his hands along Dante's back, massaging the tight muscles and feeling his lover undulate against him, clearly enjoying the attention. There was a pause as both of them pulled away long enough to thoroughly soak themselves in the water, Dante grabbed the shampoo and poured a bunch directly onto his partner's head, working it in with his fingertips, making a slight face as the grease and gods know what else was loosed from his lover's scalp. Though it did eventually bare the soft downy white underneath. Nero smiled, eyes still closed as he grabbed the bottle and did the same for the half devil, who crouched and placed a kiss along Nero's hipbone. The partial devil tried to resist rolling his hips and grinned, trying to focus on the task at hand. He hissed in a breath between his teeth as Dante's mouth found its target, his lips wrapping around the head and giving a solid suck.

"Ah…" he sighed, looking down at mischievous blue eyes that squinted in the spray of water "You're making this very difficult you know?" Dante's eyes just twinkled as he pushed forward and swallowed around his lover, the partial devil gasping and his devil bringer flaring wildly, his still frayed nerves pushing him to Trigger. It reminded him a lot of the first time that Dante had done this for him. How things change… he kept tugging at Dante's hair, trying his damnedest to work the shampoo through the locks but all he felt he was actually doing was pushing the half devil down. Dante worked him quickly and then pulled way and Nero groaned

"Ah… ass…" he grumbled and Dante chuckled, rising to his feet and rinsing the remaining shampoo from his hair. He looked back to his lover standing there, cheeks dusted a lovely pink and flickers of cerulean flame dancing up his arm. His Trigger had trickled across his chest but no farther, he likely didn't have the energy. Nero opened his eyes and looked at Dante

"What…?" he asked, pushing off the wall and wrapping an arm around the other hunter. Dante accepted the attention easily, kissing the other man for a moment before answering.

"Nothing, I just love you, that's all." he said, grinning as the partial devil rocked his hips against him.

"I love you too." Nero said with a warm smile. "Now, I'm tired, so fuck me properly or I'm gonna fall asleep right here." the statement was punctuated with a yawn. Dante laughed but the yawn was contagious and followed suit.

"Yeah yeah, make me do all the work." he sighed, slicking up his own member and pressing gently into the partial devil.

-Time Slip-

It was some time later that Lady stopped by to pay the hunters, stepping into the ever dim and dusty shop and making her way upstairs. At first she thought she was mistaken in thinking that they were home and then heard soft snores and saw the tangle of limbs on the bed. She smiled and shook her head, making note to stop by again later.

"What a pair you two make."

A/N: Sorry for the tease but it just seemed to flow better then writing out the whole thing. Anyway, again, thank you all for keeping up with this mess and hope to see you in other ficitons!

Till next time,

-Winged Element


End file.
